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Israel Agrees to Gaza Ceasefire

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Israel Agrees to Gaza Ceasefire Israel agrees to Gaza ceasefire Israel has approved a ceasefire to end months of bitter clashes with the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas in Gaza, Israeli officials have confirmed. Under the terms of the truce, which is set to begin on Thursday, Israel will ease its blockade on the Gaza Strip. At the same time, talks to release an Israeli soldier held by Hamas would intensify, an Israeli official said. Hamas, which controls Gaza, says it is confident that all militants will abide by the agreement. Hamas seized control of Gaza in June 2007, driving out forces loyal to Fatah, the political faction led by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. Since then, Israel, the Palestinian Authority and the international community have sought to isolate Hamas. For Hamas, the ceasefire agreement is an acknowledgement that Israel's economic blockade of Gaza is hurting its administration and is having a huge detrimental impact on Gaza's population, says the BBC's Wyre Davies in Jerusalem. Border crossings The decision to approve the ceasefire was made by Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defence Minister Ehud Barak, following the return of a defence official from Cairo, where he held talks with Egyptian mediators. The truce is scheduled to begin at 0600 (0300 GMT) on Thursday, and should bring an end to rocket attacks from within Gaza and ease the humanitarian situation inside the Palestinian territory. GAZA TRUCE TIMETABLE 0600 (0300 GMT) Thursday ceasefire begins After 24 hours, Israel eases crossing restrictions After five days, Israel opens commercial crossings After two weeks, Egypt starts talks with all sides to seek re-opening of Rafah crossing However, there are still many obstacles to long-term peace, with both sides warning that the truce will collapse if it is violated, our correspondent says. An Israeli government spokesman said it wanted the ceasefire to succeed. "Thursday will be the beginning, we hope, of a new reality where Israeli citizens in the south will no longer be on the receiving end of continuous rocket attacks," Mark Regev said. According to a breakdown of the deal released by Hamas, Israel will ease its restrictions on Gaza crossings with Israel on Friday morning, followed by the bigger commercial crossings next week. After two weeks, talks will start involving Israel, Hamas, the Palestinian Authority and the EU on reopening the Rafah crossing into Egypt. An Israeli security source told Israel Radio that negotiations on the return of captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit were expected to resume with a few days. He said that if progress was achieved, Israel would have to reach a decision regarding the release of Palestinian prisoners. As part of the deal, Egypt has also committed to stop the smuggling of arms and weapons from its territory into Gaza, Israeli officials said. .
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