Israel and Hamas will cease-fire across the Gaza Strip border as of Friday, according to the decision of the Israeli Security Cabinet, The Times of Israel reports.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said his security cabinet had voted unanimously in favor of a "mutual and unconditional" Gaza truce proposed by Egypt but added that the hour of implementation had yet to be agreed upon.
Hamas and Egypt said the truce would begin at 2 a.m. (2300 GMT Thursday), after 11 days of Israeli-Palestinian hostilities.
Unfortunately, the sides traded blows again in the countdown.
Hamas said the ceasefire would be "mutual and simultaneous".
“The Palestinian resistance will abide by this agreement as long as the Occupation (Israel) does the same,” Taher Al-Nono, media adviser to Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh, said, Reuters reports.
In a televised speech, Abu Ubaida, spokesman of the Hamas armed wing, said, "With the help of God, we were able to humiliate the enemy, its fragile entity and its savage army." He threatened Hamas rocket fire that would reach throughout Israel if it violated the truce or struck Gaza before the hour of implementation.
Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz said on Twitter that the Gaza offensive had yielded "unprecedented military gains".
It's worth noting that the violence was triggered by Palestinian anger at what they viewed as Israeli curbs on their rights in Jerusalem, including during police confrontations with protesters at Al-Aqsa mosque. Hamas previously demanded that any halt to the Gaza fighting be accompanied by Israeli drawdowns in Jerusalem. An Israeli official told Reuters there was no such condition in the truce.