Hamas, Israel agree on truce in Gaza: Palestinian officials

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The Islamic Hamas movement announced on Thursday that a truce with Israel on halting escalation in the Gaza Strip started from midnight, a Hamas source told Xinhua.

The agreement, brokered by Egypt and UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Nickolay Mladenov, will end another round of military confrontation between Israel and Hamas, the source said.

Nickolay Mladenov (on screen), United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, briefs the UN Security Council from Jerusalem on the situation in the Middle East in New York, US, May 23, 2018. /VCG Photo

"A calm-for-calm deal has been brokered by Egypt and by the UN Special envoy on condition that the Israeli occupation should respect the agreement," the Hamas source said on condition of anonymity.

"The Palestinian resistance has the right to respond to any Israeli violation," the source added.

Meanwhile, Abu Mujahed, spokesman for the Popular Resistance Committee, a smaller faction in Gaza, said on his Facebook page: “Upon Egyptian and international efforts, a ceasefire between Palestinian resistance began conditionally on the commitment of the occupation."

He said the ceasefire would begin at 20:45 GMT.

There was no formal comment from Israel, but an Israeli official who spoke on condition of anonymity denied a ceasefire had been reached. Israel rarely acknowledges reaching any such agreement with Hamas, a group it designates as a terrorist organization and with which it has fought three wars in the past decade.

Mourners carry the bodies of Palestinian Enas Khammash, 23, and her 18-month-daughter Bayan, during their funeral in Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, August 9, 2018. /VCG Photo

Israeli war jets have struck more than 150 sites in Gaza since Wednesday overnight, killing a pregnant woman, her baby and a Hamas fighter, while Gaza militants launched more than 100 rockets toward southern Israel, injuring over 20 Israelis.

Source(s): Reuters ,Xinhua News Agency