TEL AVIV, July 26 (RIA Novosti) – Israeli authorities are considering the UN request to extend a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip till Sunday evening, a government source told RIA Novosti on Saturday.
“The United Nations has addressed Israel with a request for 24-hour extension of the humanitarian pause. The [Security] Cabinet initially made a decision … to extend the ceasefire by additional four hours till midnight in order to convene a meeting and discuss the issue,” the source said.
He stressed that the ceasefire regime did not hamper Israel’s efforts aimed at locating and destroying dozens of underground tunnels constructed by rebels to gain secret access to the Israeli territory.
Destruction of tunnels is the main aim of the ground offensive carried out by the Israeli army in the Gaza Strip.
The ground assault is the second stage of Protective Edge Operation, launched back on July 8 in order to put an end to rocket fire from Gaza and undermine the Hamas movement, which controls the region.
Earlier in the day, Palestinian Emergency Services spokesman Ashraf Qudra told RIA Novosti that the number of Palestinian who died in the conflict now raging for about three weeks surpassed 1,000.
According to recent estimates, the Israeli side has lost 40 soldiers and three civilians since the beginning of the conflict.
On Saturday, a humanitarian pause agreed by Israel and the Hamas movement came into force in Gaza. The truce started at 8:00 a.m. (05:00 GMT) and was expected to last till 8:00 p.m. (17:00 GMT) before the extension by another four hours was announced.
