Hamas, Israel 72-hour ceasefire enters second day

A 72-hour ceasefire between the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas and Israel has entered its second day.

The Egypt-brokered truce between the two sides came into effect at 2100 GMT on Sunday. Delegations from Hamas and Israel are holding indirect talks through Egyptian officials.

The two sides are reportedly resuming talks to reach a long-term truce in the Gaza Strip. The negotiations are expected to continue in the coming days.

After the announcement of the three-day truce, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon expressed “his strong hope that this will give the two sides, under Egyptian auspices, another chance to agree on a durable ceasefire.”

Hamas Political Bureau chief Khaled Meshaal said on Sunday that the final goal is to have the demands of Palestinians met and the Gaza blockade lifted.

“We insist on this goal. In the case of Israeli procrastination or continued aggression, Hamas is ready with other Palestinian factions to resist on the ground and politically and… to face all possibilities,” he said.

A previous 72-hour truce in Gaza ended on Friday morning without any agreement to extend it.

Shortly after the expiry of the truce between Tel Aviv and Hamas, the Israeli regime resumed pounding the Gaza Strip and Israeli tanks were redeployed to their previous positions during the Gaza war.

Chief among Hamas demands is a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and an end to the Israeli siege of the costal enclave.

Gaza has been under Israel’s blockade since June 2007, a situation that has caused a decline in the standards of living and poverty.

The Israeli war on the Gaza Strip began on July 8. According to Palestinian health officials, the brutal Israeli war on the Gaza Strip has claimed over 1,940 lives, with most of the fatalities being civilians. Nearly 10,000 others have also been wounded in the attacks.

Latest tallies show that nearly 470 Palestinian children have so far lost their lives in the Israeli attacks against the impoverished Gaza Strip. Children also make up almost one-third of the injured.