Israel, Hamas Agree to 72-Hour Ceasefire: 1,452 Gazans Killed

Both Sides Agree to Humanitarian Ceasefire

Both Israel and Hamas have agreed to a UN-brokered humanitarian ceasefire for 72 hours, beginning at 1 AM Eastern Friday morning, and which will include efforts to negotiate a more permanent settlement.

Before the announcement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisted he would not accept any ceasefire that didn’t allow Israel to continue destroying tunnels inside the Gaza Strip, though the current ceasefire does not seem to allow them to keep attacking the strip.

Fighting continued throughout the day, though it seemed to be tapering off by evening, with the toll standing at 1,452 Gazans killed, 8,295 wounded, both overwhelmingly civilians. On the Israeli side, the death toll is 64, with 61 of them soldiers.

Previous ceasefires have not lasted their entire span before being canceled, though there are high hopes among Western negotiators that this would be a serious chance to make a deal.

Making a deal isn’t going to be easy, with Hamas seeking an end to the Gaza blockade and Israel hoping to see a full disarmament of every faction in the strip. Either way, talks on a settlement are planned in Cairo.

Though Egypt has traditionally been the broker of these assorted ceasefires, the current junta is hostile toward Hamas, and is refusing to allow them to send any representatives unless it is in a Fatah-led delegation.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.