Israel, Hamas accept 72-hour truce to begin early Friday

GAZA CITY: Hopes of an end to the bloodshed in Gaza rose early Friday after US Secretary of State John Kerry announced that Israel and Hamas had agreed a 72-hour ceasefire.

Both sides swiftly confirmed that they agreed to the ceasefire, due to begin at 0500 GMT Friday, after 25 days of bloody confrontation.

Speaking in New Delhi, Kerry said after the ceasefire went into force, Israeli and Palestinian representatives, including from Hamas, would begin talks in Cairo in a move confirmed by Egypt.

But he said Israeli forces would remain inside Gaza. Earlier Thursday, Israel vowed it would not accept any ceasefire that did not allow troops to continue destroying tunnels used by militants to attack Israel.

The announcement came as the Palestinian death toll in Gaza hit 1,442, surpassing that of a massive three-week Israeli operation over New Year 2009, medics said.

UN figures show that around two-thirds of the victims were civilians, drawing sharp criticism from around the world.

The truce was a joint US-UN initiative and will give civilians "a much needed reprieve," Kerry said.

"This is a respite, a moment of opportunity -- not an end. It´s not a solution," he warned, saying Israel would still be allowed to carry out "defensive" operations to destroy tunnels.

The proposal was accepted by Hamas, with a spokesman stressing it was dependent on Israel reciprocating.

"Hamas and all the resistance movements have accepted a 72-hour humanitarian ceasefire from 8:00am Friday which will be respected by all these movements if the other party also observes the ceasefire," Fawzi Barhum said"Israel has accepted the US/UN proposal for a 72-hour humanitarian ceasefire beginning 8:00am Friday (local time)," a source in the prime minister´s office said.