Israel, Hamas reach ceasefire agreement
- 10 years ago
(nat)
Celebrations late into the night on the streets of Gaza..as news of an Egypt-brokered ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinians began to spread..
(nat)
The announcement came from Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas.
(SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) PALESTINIAN PRESIDENT MAHMOUD ABBAS, SAYING:
"I would like to announce the agreement of the Palestinian leadership to the invitation by our brotherly Egypt to a comprehensive and permanent ceasefire starting at 19:00 tonight local Cairo and Palestine time."
For war-weary Palestinians in Gaza, it couldn't have come soon enough.
For the past seven weeks Israel has bombarded Gaza in a military offensive aimed at stemming a stream of rocket fire from Hamas into its territory.
More than 2,000 Palestinians, mostly civilians, have died as a result of airstrikes aimed at Hamas targets.
But Israeli Spokesman Mark Regev says the death toll is the responsibility of Hamas.
(SOUNDBITE) (English) I
Celebrations late into the night on the streets of Gaza..as news of an Egypt-brokered ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinians began to spread..
(nat)
The announcement came from Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas.
(SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) PALESTINIAN PRESIDENT MAHMOUD ABBAS, SAYING:
"I would like to announce the agreement of the Palestinian leadership to the invitation by our brotherly Egypt to a comprehensive and permanent ceasefire starting at 19:00 tonight local Cairo and Palestine time."
For war-weary Palestinians in Gaza, it couldn't have come soon enough.
For the past seven weeks Israel has bombarded Gaza in a military offensive aimed at stemming a stream of rocket fire from Hamas into its territory.
More than 2,000 Palestinians, mostly civilians, have died as a result of airstrikes aimed at Hamas targets.
But Israeli Spokesman Mark Regev says the death toll is the responsibility of Hamas.
(SOUNDBITE) (English) I