Israel accepts Egypt’s proposal for truce in Gaza

Israel has accepted an Egyptian proposal for a ceasefire to end its offensive against the besieged Gaza Strip, which has so far claimed the lives of about 200 Palestinians.

Israel’s cabinet met early Tuesday, and ministers voted six to two in favor of accepting the truce. Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman and Economy Minister Naftali Bennett, who have voiced support for a reinvasion of Gaza, voted against the proposal.

However, overnight, Fawzi Barhum, a spokesman for the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas said there would be no truce without a fully-fledged agreement to end hostilities. He added that Hamas had not received any official proposal, and even if Israel halted its fire, it would have “no value” after the extensive damage it has wreaked in Gaza.

The military wing of Hamas, Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, also dismissed the Egyptian proposal as “surrender” and vowed to “intensify” its battle against Israel.

The resistance movement has said it will not hold its fire without Israel agreeing to a list of demands, including an end to its eight-year blockade on the Gaza Strip, along with the opening of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt. It also wants Israel to release the Palestinians it rearrested after freeing them in exchange for Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.

The Egyptian proposal, presented late Monday, called for a ceasefire as of Tuesday morning, followed by the opening of border crossings, and talks in Egypt’s capital, Cairo, between the sides.

Hamas officials are highly suspicious of promises by Egypt and Israel to ease the blockade on Gaza. Such promises were also part of a truce that ended more than a week of clashes in 2012, but were quickly broken as violence erupted again.

Israel has carried out hundreds of deadly airstrikes on Gaza since July 8, and is mulling a ground offensive. The overall death toll from the Israeli attacks on the coastal enclave has risen to 192.