Bloomberg News
Gaza Strip militants and Israel reached agreement on an open-ended truce to end their seven-week conflict, Palestinian officials said. There was no confirmation from Israel.
Palestinian negotiator Qais Abdel Karim said Israel's crossings with Hamas-ruled Gaza would be opened, under the pact brokered by Egypt. He said no time had been set for the cease-fire to take effect, and that the Palestinian demand for a Gaza airport and seaport would be discussed later. Israeli shares rose and the shekel strengthened.
'Talks are over now and we are heading toward understandings,' Hamas official Mussa Abu Marzuk said, according to the al-Rai news agency affiliated with the Islamist movement. Ismail Haniyeh, the Gaza-based deputy head of Hamas, said 'we are on the cusp of political understandings,' al-Rai reported.
Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev said he couldn't confirm a truce had been reached. A cease-fire would end 50 days of fighting that has killed more than 2,100 Palestinians, including hundreds of women and children, and 68 Israelis, all but four of them soldiers.
The effort to stop the fighting has been led by Egypt, which mediated two previous conflicts between Israel and Hamas, and has crafted several temporary truces during the current offensive. The Egyptians last week proposed an open-ended truce to give the sides time to work on a more lasting accord.
Shekel Strengthens
The TA-25 Index (TA-25) rose 0.4 percent today to 1,388.93 as the yield on Israel's benchmark 10-year government bonds fell 6 basis points, or 0.06 percent, to 2.5 percent. The shekel strengthened 0.1 percent to 3.5658 against the dollar.
Israel said it initiated a military operation against Hamas, which it regards as a terrorist organization along with the U.S. and European Union, to stop rocket fire from Gaza.
Hamas had earlier said it would only accept a truce if Israel eased its restrictions on border crossings with Gaza, saying the limits on the movement of goods and people cause civilian suffering. Israel had demanded that the transit points be supervised by a third party to prevent arms smuggling, and called for the disarming of Hamas and other Gaza militant groups. It began imposing stiff restrictions at the crossings after Hamas won Palestinian elections in 2006, citing security concerns.
To contact the reporter on this story: Calev Ben-David in Jerusalem at cbendavid@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Alaa Shahine at asalha@bloomberg.net Amy Teibel, Fergal O'Brien
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