IOF Announces Total Withdrawal of Gaza as 72-hr Truce Comes into Effect

Tuesday, 5 August 2014

IOF Announces Total Withdrawal of Gaza as 72-hr Truce Comes into Effect

Local Editor

A 72-hour ceasefire between the Zionist entity and the Palestinian resistance in the Gaza strip came into effect, as the occupation military announced total withdrawal of the besieged territory.

Shortly before the truce began the Israeli air force staged at least five raids on Gaza, which has been since July 7 under brutal offensive that killed nearly 1900 people and injured more than 9500 others most of them are civilians that included hundreds of children and women.

Meanwhile, the Israeli occupation army announced it would withdraw completely from the Gaza Strip, when the agreed ceasefire takes effect.

IOF would deploy outside Gaza in “defensive positions” when the three-day ceasefire begins, army spokesman Peter Lerner told journalists.

It was the second time in four days that the two sides had attempted to observe a 72-hour humanitarian truce deal, with the last attempt on August 1 -- brokered by Washington and the UN -- shattering in an explosion of violence within just 90 minutes.

The breakthrough emerged in Cairo where Palestinian and Egyptian mediators had been discussing a ceasefire with representatives of Hamas and Islamic Jihad, although Tel Aviv was not present.

However, the Zionist entity would send a delegation to Egypt in the coming days, an Israeli official said.

Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said a delegation of the resistance movement's Gaza-based leaders would head to Cairo on Tuesday to join representatives of its leadership who are based in Egypt.

And Israel said it would also send a delegation to the Egyptian capital after earlier refusing to join the talks, an official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

The official said Monday's agreement was very similar to an earlier proposal by Egypt which had been accepted by Israel but rejected by Hamas.

Hamas' deputy leader Mussa Abu Marzuk had said Monday that the new proposal would involve a withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza.