Egypt, US, Israel agree ceasefire in southern Gaza

Israel, Egypt, and the US have agreed to a ceasefire in southern Gaza to begin at 0600 GMT (11:30 am IST) coinciding with the re-opening of the Rafah border crossing. A report by Reuters quoted two Egyptian security sources saying that the ceasefire would last for several hours but were not clear on the exact duration. Sources to the news agency further said the three countries had agreed that Rafah would be open until 1400 GMT (7:30 pm IST) on Monday as a one-day initial re-opening. Since the war, there had been efforts to reopen Egypt’s Rafah crossing with Gaza to let foreigners leave. The opening would also enable humanitarian aid to enter Gaza. On October 7, Israel had declared a war after Hamas attacked Israel on a major Jewish holiday. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had vowed to retaliate against Hamas. Israeli warplanes attacked Gaza City which is home to Hamas’ centres of government on October 10. Last week, Gaza faced heavy bombardment by the Israeli forces. The entire Gaza has faced the attack by the Israel Defence Forces and the civilians were asked to evacuate the city as the forces prepared a heavy attack on the Hamas terrorists. The ongoing war is the deadliest for Israel since the 1973 conflict with Egypt and Syria. Israel’s defence minister had ordered a “complete siege” of the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip soon after the attack. Over 1,400 Israelis were killed in the Hamas attack, the vast majority of them civilians. Israel says at least 155 others, including children, were captured by the terrorist organisation and taken into Gaza. Meanwhile, the Gaza health ministry said 2,670 Palestinians have been killed and 9,600 wounded since the fighting erupted. Food supply, electricity and water supply to the Gaza Strip were cut off by Israel. With inputs from agencies