Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas has announced a deal has been reached with Israel over a long-term end to seven weeks of fighting in Gaza.
"We announce the Palestinian leadership's agreement to Egypt's call for a comprehensive and lasting truce, beginning at 7pm today (0200 AEST Wednesday)," he said on Tuesday in a televised address at the start of a leadership meeting in the West Bank city of Ramallah.
The announcement came as an Israeli security source said one Israeli had been killed and two others seriously wounded by a mortar round fired by militants in Gaza.
Shortly after the deal was announced by the Palestinians a senior Israeli official told AFP that Israel had agreed to observe an "unlimited" ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
"We have accepted, once again, an Egyptian proposal for an unconditional and unlimited-in-time ceasefire," the official said speaking on condition of anonymity, just moments before the truce went into effect.
Thousands of Palestinians flooded on to the streets of Gaza City, including gunmen -- some from Hamas -- who fired in the air in celebration just moments after the truce began, AFP correspondents said.
Share
