Israel and Palestinians accept 72-hour truce brokered by Egypt.
Egypt also invited Israel and the Palestinians to high-level negotiations in Cairo aimed at reaching a long-term agreement to end the war; "We hope this will guarantee a permanent ceasefire and restore stability," the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said in a statement; Gaza officials said 1.834 Palestinians, mostly civilians, had been killed in the conflict. Israel confirmed that 64 of its soldiers had died in combat, and Palestinian shelling killed three civilians in Israel.
CAIRO (Reuters) - Israel and Palestinian factions, including Hamas, which controls Gaza, accepted Egypt's proposal for a ceasefire starting at 5 a.m. on Tuesday (2 a.m. Brasília time) for at least three days.
Egypt has also invited Israel and the Palestinians to high-level negotiations in Cairo aimed at reaching a long-term agreement to end the war, which has already left nearly 2 dead.
"We hope this will ensure a permanent ceasefire and restore stability," the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Gaza authorities said that 1.834 Palestinians, mostly civilians, were killed in the conflict. Israel confirmed that 64 of its soldiers died in combat, and Palestinian shelling killed three civilians in Israel.
Palestinian groups, including envoys from Hamas and Islamic Jihad, were already in the Egyptian capital, where they met with the country's intelligence chief on Monday to present their main demands for an end to the violence, which has already displaced more than a quarter of Gaza's 1,8 million inhabitants and destroyed 3 homes.
Immediately after the meeting, Egypt communicated its demands to Israel, including a ceasefire, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, an end to the blockade of the impoverished enclave, and the release of some prisoners.
An Israeli official, who wished to remain anonymous, suggested that Israel is willing to withdraw its forces from Gaza as part of the truce.
"We agreed to begin implementing the Egyptian initiative. If the ceasefire is maintained, there will be no need for the presence of (Israeli) forces in the Gaza Strip," he stated.
Israel has already begun to slow down its offensive, saying that the army has achieved the main objective of the ground operation: the destruction of the tunnels used by militants to infiltrate its territory.
Israel had refused to send a delegation to Egypt for talks on a truce, raising doubts about the possibility of an agreement.
A Palestinian official affiliated with one of the militant factions said a temporary ceasefire would help pave the way for broader negotiations.
"If Israel agrees to a 72-hour ceasefire, Egypt would invite it to send a delegation to Cairo to conduct indirect negotiations on all issues," he stated.
Egypt has already positioned itself as a mediator in other conflicts in Gaza, but, like Israel, it opposes Hamas and has been working to reach an agreement that will end the conflicts.
Qatar, which supports Hamas, stayed out of the Egyptian talks, but held consultations with Turkey and US Secretary of State John Kerry with the aim of ending the crisis should Egypt fail, a Gulf source and a Hamas official in Doha said.
(By Yasmine Saleh and Lin Noueihed)