Israel and Hamas Start 72-Hour Cease-Fire Agreement
Israel and Hamas began their three-day ceasefire agreement Tuesday with Israel withdrawing ground troops from the Gaza Strip and Egypt brokering a longer peace treaty that could mark an end to fighting for an extended period of time.
According to the Associated Press, now Egyptian delegators will work with Palestinian and Israeli leaders in Cairo to determine a more long-term truce. The recent three-day ceasefire agreement halts almost one month of fighting between Israel and Hamas on the Gaza strip that involved ground presence of Israel's Defense Forces, as well as missile attacks from both sides. Over 1,900 Palestinians were killed, along with 67 Israelis.
Israeli military spokesman Lt. Col. Peter Lerner said in a statement to the press on Tuesday that the country had successfully pulled out its ground troops from Gaza after destroying the remaining underground tunnels, built by Hamas to span from Palestinian territory to Israel.
"Overnight, we completed the destruction of 32 tunnels in the Gaza Strip," Lerner said, according to Fox News. "They were part of a strategic Hamas plan to carry out attacks against southern Israel."
Senior Hamas leader Osama Hamdan also confirmed that his Islamic group would follow the 72-hour truce, as long as Israel could "control itself."
"The deal is that we will have a 72-hour humanitarian ceasefire," Hamdan said, adding that "during those 72-hours there will be a delegation from Israel coming to Cairo. There will be indirect negotiations between Palestinian and Israeli sides for a ceasefire and the lift of a siege on Gaza and other Palestinian demands."
