MOSCOW, July 27 (RIA Novosti) – The Palestinian Hamas has agreed to a new 24-hour ceasefire with the Israeli army, Reuters reported on Sunday, quoting the group’s spokesman.
"In response to U.N. intervention and considering the situation of our citizens and the occasion of Eid al-Fitr festival, it has been agreed among resistance groups to endorse a 24-hour humanitarian calm, starting from 2 p.m. on Sunday," Sami Abu Zuhri was quoted as saying.
The truce is to come into force at 2:00 p.m. local time (11:00 GMT).
It still remains unclear whether the truce has been accepted by the Israeli side.
Earlier on Saturday, the Israeli Security Cabinet at the UN request extended till Sunday evening a humanitarian pause in Gaza which started early on Saturday. The truce was later called off after the Palestinian militants refused to maintain the UN-requested ceasefire and fired rockets into the Israeli territory.
Over 1,000 Palestinians have died in the ongoing military operation launched by Israel early July against Hamas and its allied rebel groups.
According to recent estimates, the Israeli side has lost more than 40 soldiers and three civilians.
