Ceasefire with immediate effect

Israel and Hamas agreed on Wednesday to a ceasefire brokered by Egypt on the eighth day of intensive Israeli fire on the Gaza Strip and militant rocket attacks out of the enclave, Israeli, Palestinian, and Egyptian sources said.

Egyptian state TV earlier had a news conference at President Mohamed Mursi's palace in Cairo where U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced the ceasefire alongside Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr.

Fears the process would be derailed by a bomb blast on a bus in Tel Aviv that injured at least 15 people, as well as continued Israeli air strikes, failed to materialise. It began at 7pm GMT.

Relieved crowds poured into the streets when they heard the announcement, making peace signs, clapping, chanting, and waving flags.

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Relief: Palestinians celebrate a cease-fire agreement between Israel and Gaza in Gaza City today

Today an Egyptian-sponsored ceasefire was agreed, halting an eight-day conflict that killed 162 Palestinians and five Israelis

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators stand next to candles during a protest against the Israeli offensive in Gaza in front of the United Nations Office in Geneva

Israeli sources earlier said Israel had agreed to a truce, but would not lift its blockade of the Palestinian territory, which is run by the Islamist Hamas movement.

More than 140 Palestinians and five Israelis have been killed in the fighting that began last Wednesday.

After talks in Ramallah with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Clinton held a second meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu before travelling to Egypt for discussions with President Mursi, whose country has led mediation efforts.

Mr Netanyahu consulted with US President Barack Obama before agreeing to the ceasefire and agreed to 'give it a chance'.

'(Netanyahu) spoke a short while ago with President Barack Obama and agreed to his recommendation to give the Egyptian ceasefire proposal a chance, and in this way provide an opportunity to stabilise the situation and calm it before any more forceful action would be necessary,' an Israeli statement said.

Palestinians living in Malta walk down the Christmas-decorated main shopping centre of Valletta, during a protest against Israeli military action in Gaza

Respite: Palestinians celebrate in the street of Gaza City after a week of cross-border violence between Israel and Palestinians

Euphoric Palestinians celebrate the agreement which they hope will end the violence that has plagued their home

'The president expressed his appreciation for the Prime Minister’s efforts to work with the new Egyptian government to achieve a sustainable ceasefire and a more durable solution to this problem,' a White House statement said.

Obama reiterated his commitment to Israel’s security and also said he was committed to seeking funds for joint missile defense programs.

Foreign Secretary William Hague welcomed the news. He said the ceasefire was ‘an important step towards a lasting peace’.

In Tel Aviv, targeted by rockets from Gaza that either did not hit the city or were shot down by Israel's Iron Dome interceptor system, 15 people were wounded when a bus was blown up near the Defence Ministry and military headquarters.

Ceasefire: In this image from Egyptian State Television, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, left, and Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohammed Kamel Amr, right, announce the cease-fire between Israel and Hamas

Broker: U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, left, shakes hands with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas during a meeting in the West Bank city of Ramallah. Mrs Clinton made the visit to broker the peace deal

The blast, which police said was caused by a bomb placed on the vehicle, touched off celebratory gunfire from militants in Gaza and had threatened to complicate truce efforts. It was the first serious bombing in Israel's commercial capital since 2006.

Mrs Clinton said: 'Now we have to focus on reaching a durable outcome that promotes regional stability and advances the security, dignity and legitimate aspirations of Palestinians and Israelis alike.'

In Gaza, Israel struck more than 100 targets, including a cluster of Hamas government buildings, in attacks that medical officials said killed 10 people, among them a 2-year-old boy.

Earlier today Israel's best-selling Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper had reported an emerging outline of a ceasefire agreement that called for Egypt to announce a 72-hour ceasefire followed by further talks on long-term understandings.

Attack: Israeli police survey the scene after an explosion on a bus in Tel Aviv earlier today

Destruction: Israeli police and rescue personnel survey the scene where a bus was ripped apart

Injured: Israeli rescue workers and paramedics carry a wounded person from the site of a bombing. Police are clearing the area, and early reports suggest it appears there was a second bomb that was not detonated

A wounded woman is treated on the ground as smoke rises from the bus earlier today

Troubled: The bombing happened on the eighth day of an Israeli offensive against the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip and threatened to complicate Egyptian-led efforts to secure a ceasefire

Under the proposed document, which the newspaper said neither party would be required to sign, Israel would hold its fire, end attacks against top militants and promise to examine ways to ease its blockade of Gaza, controlled by Hamas Islamists who do not recognise the Jewish state's right to exist.

Hamas, the report said, would pledge not to strike any Israeli target and ensure other Palestinian factions in the Gaza Strip also stop their attacks.

Israel has carried out more than 1,500 strikes since the offensive began with the killing of a top Hamas commander and with the declared aim of deterring Hamas from launching rocket attacks that have long disrupted life in its southern towns.

Medical officials in Gaza said 146 Palestinians, more than half of them civilians, including 36 children, have been killed in Israel's offensive. Nearly 1,400 rockets have been fired into Israel, killing four civilians and a soldier, the military said.

Smoke and a ball of fire are seen after an Israeli air strike in Gaza City. Israeli aircraft pounded Gaza with at least 30 strikes overnight

 

Mourners pray over the bodies of five Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes during their funeral in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip

 

A Palestinian man carries the body of Mohammed Ashour, 10, killed the previous day in an Israeli air strike

Overnight, Israel carried out more than 30 Israeli airstrikes over Gaza that hit government ministries, smuggling tunnels, a banker's empty villa, a stadium and a Hamas-linked media office. 

Meanwhile, a UN aid agency says some 10,000 Gazans have sought shelter in UN-run schools after the Israeli military dropped leaflets on the territory warning residents of certain areas to evacuate their homes. 

Adnan Abu Hassna, spokesman for the UN Relief and Works Agency, said that 12 schools are providing shelter. 

He says the influx began yesterday evening, after Israel dropped the leaflets over Gaza. The Israeli military has not given a reason for the warning, but many feared it was the prelude to a possible ground offensive.

UN compounds are seen as safer than ordinary homes, though some were also hit in 2009.

Speaking alongside Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Mrs Clinton had promised to work with Israel 'toward an outcome that bolsters security for the people of Israel, improves conditions for the people of Gaza, and moves toward a comprehensive peace for all people of the region.'

Mrs Clinton has indicated it could take some time to iron out an agreement after more than a week of bitter fighting.

It was a violent night along the Gaza Strip, as Israeli aircraft pounded the region with at least 30 strikes overnight, hitting government ministries, smuggling tunnels, a banker's empty villa and a Hamas-linked media office located two floors above the office of the French news agency, Agence France-Presse.

‘I grabbed my cameras and left the office with the fixer and there was smoke in the hallways…We ran out of the building,’ one AFP photographer told Al Jazeera.

Earlier, Gaza militants said a Cairo-brokered truce in their seven-day war with Israel would be announced

An Israeli 155mm artillery gun fires a shell from an emplacement on Israel's border into the Gaza Strip

Israeli soldiers prepare weapons and vehicles in a deployment area as the conflict between Palestine and Gaza enters its seventh day

Scenes from the southern Israeli border with the Gaza Strip shows Israeli artillery flares illuminating the Palestinian coastal enclave

The website reports that the Israeli military has attacked some 1,450 targets since the fight began almost a week ago. 

Israel launched a Gaza air offensive a week ago to counter the threat of cross-border guerrilla rockets and has massed troops and tanks in a threat to escalate to a ground war.

'If there is a possibility of achieving a long-term solution to this problem with diplomatic means, we prefer that,' Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said alongside Mrs Clinton.

'But if not, I'm sure you understand that Israel will have to take whatever action is necessary to defend its people.'

Egypt has been trying to broker a truce in the conflict and this morning it was reported that Israel has put plans for a ground operation in Gaza 'on hold' while talks to secure a truce with Hamas militants continue.

The skyline over Gaza where another night of bombing has taken its toll

An Israeli soldier gives the victory sign as mechanised infantry check their equipment in a forward staging area

Israeli soldiers talk on top of a tank at a staging area near the Israel Gaza Strip Border, southern Israel

Ready: Israeli reserve soldiers walk near the Israel Gaza Border in southern Israel

From Egypt, U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon said he came to the region because of the 'alarming situation.'

'This must stop, immediate steps are needed to avoid further escalation, including a ground operation,' Ban said. 'Both sides must hold fire immediately ... Further escalation of the situation could put the entire region at risk.'

Before today's change in schedule, deputy White House national security adviser said Mrs Clinton would begin by meeting with Mr Netanyahu in Jerusalem, then she would meet with senior officials of the Palestinian government in the West Bank before heading to Cairo to meet with Egyptian leaders.

The U.S. considers Hamas, which has killed hundreds of Israelis in suicide and other attacks, to be a terror group and does not meet with its officials. 

The Obama administration blames Hamas for the latest eruption of violence and says Israel has the right to defend itself.

At the same time, it has warned against a ground invasion, saying it could send casualties spiraling.

The conflict erupted last week, when a resurgence in rocket fire from Gaza provoked Israel to strike back, killing Hamas' military chief in an air attack and carrying out hundreds of assaults on militants' underground rocket launchers and weapons stores.

The onslaught abruptly turned deadlier over the weekend as aircraft were ordered to go after Hamas military commanders and buildings suspected of housing their commands and weapons caches.

In the narrow alleys and warrens of crowded Gaza, where militants often operate from residential areas, civilian casualties mounted.

By Tuesday, civilians accounted for 54 of the 113 Palestinians killed since Operation Pillar of Defence began last Wednesday.

Some 840 people have been wounded, including 225 children, Gaza health officials said.

Today Israel's military targeted about 100 sites in Gaza, including ammunition stores and the Gaza headquarters of the National Islamic Bank.

Gaza's Hamas-run Health Ministry said six Palestinians were killed.

Israeli police said more than 60 rockets were fired from Gaza by mid-day, and 25 of the projectiles were intercepted by Israel's Iron Dome system.

Their military said an officer was wounded.

Israel and Gaza's militant Hamas rulers have staked tough, hard-to-bridge positions, and the gaps keep fueling the threat of an Israeli ground invasion.

The content of the Egyptian peace plan is unknown, but both Israel and Hamas have presented conditions and Egyptian intelligence officials are meeting representives from Israel and Hamas separately.  

Israel demands an end to rocket fire from Gaza and a halt to weapons smuggling into Gaza through tunnels under the border with Egypt.

It also wants international guarantees that Hamas will not rearm or use Egypt's Sinai region, which abuts both Gaza and southern Israel, to attack Israelis.

Israeli aircraft hit Gaza with at least 30 strikes overnight, hitting government ministries, smuggling tunnels, a banker's empty villa and a Hamas-linked media office

Israel was targeting smuggling tunnels along the border between Egypt and Rafah southern Gaza Strip

The destroyed Hamas government complex known as Abu Khadra after another Israeli airstrike

A Palestinian man rides past a destroyed area after an Israeli airstrike at a nearby Hamas government complex known as Abu Khadra in Gaza City

Hamas wants Israel to halt all attacks on Gaza and lift tight restrictions on trade and movement in and out of the territory that have been in place since Hamas seized Gaza by force in 2007.

Israel has rejected such demands in the past.

Early Tuesday, Israeli aircraft targeted another Hamas symbol of power, battering the headquarters of the bank senior Hamas officials set up to sidestep international sanctions on the militant group's rule. 

After Hamas violently overran Gaza in June 2007, foreign lenders stopped doing business with the militant-led Gaza government, afraid of running afoul of international terror financing laws.

Defiant: Palestinians react as flames and smoke rise from a smuggling tunnel after an Israeli strike

Israeli soldiers take cover during a rocket attack from the Gaza Strip

Pounding: A plume of smoke billows over Gaza as more rockets hit the stricken city

The inside of the bank, which was set up by leading Hamas members and describes itself as a private enterprise, was destroyed.

Owner Suleiman Tawil, 31, grimly surveyed the damage to his store and six company cars. 'I'm not involved in politics,' he said. 'I'm a businessman. But the more the Israelis pressure us, the more we will support Hamas.'

Fuad Hijazi and two of his toddler sons were killed Monday evening when missiles struck their one-story shack in northern Gaza, leaving a crater about two to three meters (seven to 10 feet) deep in the densely populated neighborhood. Residents said the father was not a militant.

Members of the Palestinian security forces stand guard as a protest is held during the visit of U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in the West Bank city of Ramallah

Israeli army artillery unit fires shells near the Israel Gaza Strip Border

Artillery: An Israeli unit fires on Gaza as the army prepares to move in if a peace deal isn't struck

On Tuesday morning, the boys' bodies lay next to each other on a rack in the local morgue, wrapped tightly in white burial shrouds. Their father lay in a rack below.

'We want to tell the world which is supporting the state of Israel, what this state is doing,' said neighbor Rushdie Nasser. 

'They are supporting a state that kills children ... We want to send a message to the U.N. and the West: Enough of supporting the Zionists, who are killing children.'

An Israeli soldier perform morning prayers at an artillery battery deployment near the Israel-Gaza Strip border

A Palestinian boy carries a mattress to a United Nations-run school in the Jabalya refugee camp, north of Gaza City

Palestinians head with some belongings to a United Nations-run school in the Jabalya refugee camp

Three Israeli civilians have also been killed and dozens wounded since the fighting began last week, the numbers possibly kept down by a rocket-defense system that Israel developed with U.S. funding. 

More than 1,000 rockets have been fired at Israel this week, the military said, including three that struck schools that had been emptied because of the fighting