Israeli and Palestinian militant groups in the Gaza Strip have agreed to a three-day humanitarian truce to begin Friday morning, and negotiators from both sides will travel to Cairo to discuss a longer-term solution, according to The Associated Press.
The 72-hour break after more than three weeks of fighting was set to begin at 8 a.m., according to a joint statement released by United States Secretary of State John Kerry and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, the AP reported.
An official in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said Israel had accepted the U.S./U.N. proposal, according to the AP. A spokesman for Hamas, the Islamist group dominant in Gaza, said all Palestinian factions would abide by the truce.
"We urge all parties to act with restraint until this humanitarian ceasefire begins, and to fully abide by their commitments during the ceasefire," Kerry and Ban said, the AP reported. "This ceasefire is critical to giving innocent civilians a much-needed reprieve from violence."
Hours before the ceasefire was announced, Netanyahu, facing international alarm over a rising civilian death toll in Gaza, said he would not accept any truce that stopped Israel from completing the destruction of militants' infiltration tunnels, according to the AP.
According to the Kerry and Ban statement, forces on the ground would remain in place during the ceasefire, the AP reported.
Israeli and Palestinian delegations in the meantime will travel to Cairo for separate negotiations to reach a more durable ceasefire, the statement said, according to the AP.
The Palestinian delegation will be comprised of Hamas, Western-backed Fatah, the Islamic Jihad militant group and a number of smaller factions, Palestinian officials said, the AP reported.
A senior U.S. State Department official said talks could start as early as Friday, depending on how long it takes the parties to reach Cairo, according to the AP. Representatives from Israel and the United States will not sit across the table from Hamas, the official added.
The United States, European Union and Israel consider Hamas a terrorist group, the AP reported.
Egypt's Foreign Ministry said it "stresses the importance the two sides respect their obligations resulting from their announcement of ceasefire so that negotiation can be held in suitable condition and achieve the desired results," according to the AP.
Fighting continued, however, overnight, the AP reported. Hamas said it fired rockets at Israel, setting off air raid sirens in the area of Tel Aviv.
