The Israeli security cabinet voted to accept a ceasefire late Thursday as the Israeli south and Gaza remain inflamed. The idea behind stopping the attacks on your own country by Hamas terrorist is rather mind boggling to me. Does anyone really think that Gaza/Hamas terrorists will stick to whatever the truce/ceasefire calls for? The deal reportedly has been brokered by the Egyptians.
Sources from the cabinet meeting said that the IDF will cease airstrikes on Gaza immediately. However, in the case Hamas continues to fire rockets into Israel, the IDF will return to full operational activities in the Gaza Strip and the ceasefire will be cancelled immediately, N12 reported.
Top international envoys had worked feverishly to end the war while Israel’s security cabinet debated the details of a restoration of calm in a late-night meeting.
Israeli media reported that Israel was accepting the truce on the principle of “quiet would be met by quiet.”
A security source from Egypt – which had been mediating between the warring parties – said they had agreed in principle to a mutual halt of fighting, but details still needed to be worked out.
According to Kan News, Israel’s National Security adviser, Meir Ben-Shabbat, received a proposal from the Egyptians for a restoration of calm. Egypt along with the UN and others were working on a truce 11 days after Hamas escalated tensions by launching rockets at Jerusalem.
Ahead of the security cabinet meeting, Israeli government sources declined to confirm that a ceasefire was imminent. Cabinet ministers, although not Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu or Defense Minister Benny Gantz, convened for the meeting having heard about an impending ceasefire from foreign media, including Al Jazeera and the BBC, but without having been briefed on it.