Truce between Israel and Palestine in the Gaza Strip. Jerusalem accepted the Egyptian proposal and ceased attacks. In a brief TV message, the president of the Palestinian National Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, specified that "the stop to arms will be accompanied by the sending of medicines and food to the inhabitants of the Palestinian enclave, and by the reconstruction of all that was destroyed in Israeli attacks".
The agreement for a stable ceasefire in the Gaza Strip also provides for the opening of the Rafah crossing, which separates the Palestinian enclave from Egypt, and the start of new talks between Israelis and Palestinian factions within a month. The Jewish state will ease the blockade on Gaza to allow the entry of humanitarian aid and building materials. Indirect talks on more substantial issues will instead begin within a month in Cairo.
Among these issues, still to be discussed, it is expected that there will be the request of Hamas for a total stop of the blockade in the Strip and that of Israel for a disarmament of Hamas. Other open questions: the authorization for the reopening of the Gaza airport and the release of the Palestinians arrested by Israel immediately after the killing, last June 12, of three Israeli boys in the West Bank.
