12:05pm (5:05am EDT): The five-hour humanitarian ceasefire, which was requested by the UN and agreed to by the Israeli government and Hamas yesterday and which began two hours ago at 10:00am local time, is still holding.
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The Reuters live feed of Gaza can been seen here at the Guardian website. You have to scroll down a little to see it.
http://www.theguardian.com/...
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Israeli government officials, Palestinian National Authority officials, and Hamas officials are meeting with Egyptian government officials in Cairo today to discuss a permanent ceasefire. Former British PM Tony Blair, the Envoy of the Quartet on the Middle East, is also reportedly involved in the discussions.
Hamas is reportedly going to present its positions on a ceasefire agreement today.
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12:25pm: Haaretz has a headline up now "LIVE UPDATES: Rockets fired from Gaza two hours into temporary truce" with these details:
12:02 P.M. Rocket sirens sound in Eshkol Regional Council and Ashkelon areas, two hours after temporary cease-fire went into effect.
http://www.haaretz.com/...
This has been added:
12:20 P.M. Three rockets land in Eshkol Regional Council. No injuries or damages reported. (Haaretz)
12:44pm: The Guardian now reports it was two mortars - not rockets. ABC News, quoting the IDF, reports that it was three mortars - not three rockets.
10:38
There are mixed reports about the nature of the attack on Eshkol, but there is little doubt that the temporary truce has been broken.
AP said the Israeli police have confirmed that two, not three, rockets have been fired from Gaza.
Israeli radio says it was a mortar, not rocket, attack, according to ABC News' Alexander Marquardt.
http://www.theguardian.com/...
Alexander Marquard [ABC News]
@MarquardtA
IDF confirms three mortars fell on Eshkol regional council from #Gaza.
https://twitter.com/...
1:05pm: The third hour of the ceasefire has ended with no reports of any other violations so far.
1:20pm: Haaretz has revised its headline to "LIVE UPDATES: Mortar shells fired from Gaza two hours into temporary truce", and its news item to:
12:20 P.M. Three mortar shells land in Eshkol Regional Council. No injuries or damages reported. (Haaretz)
1:55pm: Quentin Sommerville of the BBC has tweeted that there will be a ceasefire beginning tomorrow morning.
Ceasefire announcements are usually made by a third party (Egypt, the UN, Tony Blair are three possibilities here) after all sides have agreed.
Since this information is not from a third party I am doubtful of its validity.
Time will tell.
Quentin Sommerville
@sommervillebbc
BREAKING: Senior Israeli official tells the BBC there will be a comprehensive ceasefire from 6am tomorrow morning following talks in Egypt.
https://twitter.com/...
Haaretz reports:
1:49 P.M. A senior Israeli official told the BBC there will be an agreement has been reached on a comprehensive cease-fire that would go into effect at 6 A.M. on Thursday. (Haaretz)
2:05pm: The fourth hour of the ceasefire has ended with no reports of any other violations so far.
2:10pm: The BBC is reporting "Israel-Gaza ceasefire deal 'reached'".
'reached' - As I noted above, I will be doubtful until I hear something from an involved third party, or an official announcement from the leadereship of Hamas.
A comprehensive ceasefire agreement has been reached between Israel and Gaza, an Israeli official has told the BBC.
The ceasefire is due to take effect on Friday at 06:00 local time (04:00 GMT).
http://www.bbc.com/...
2:20pm: AFP is reporting:
John D [AFP]
@Johnny_Davo
Hamas officials saying they don't know anything about supposed ceasefire deal #gaza #hamas #israel #truce
https://twitter.com/...
2:30pm: Some Israeli officials are saying news of a ceasefire agreement is inaccurate.
Others are saying the Israeli cabinet has approved it.
There is a report of a rocket being launched from Gaza but no confirmation. This may turn out to be inaccurate, as the earlier report was.
There is also very unclear news of the IDF lauching mortars on Gaza in retaliation for the mortars which were launched from Gaza earlier.
3:00pm: The humanitarian ceasefire ends officially.
It seems there were two violations. Three mortars were fired from Gaza into Israel, it is unclear who fired them, and the IDF fired mortars into Gaza in retaliation.
It has been reported that an unnamed Hamas official denied that Hamas fired mortars into Israel.
Haaretz still reports, without any details, that a rocket was fired from Gaza more than an hour ago but I have seen no other reports of this.
It also has become clear that no ceasefire agreement has been reached.
There are multiple reports of progess having been made, though.
Will the ceasefire continue?
Who knows?
I hope it will.
And then there is this:
Israel News Feed
@IsraelHatzolah
PM Netanyahu has rejected request of extending current ceasefire, and said Israeli air force to react as soon temporarily ceasefire ends.
https://twitter.com/...