Gaza-Israel ceasefire extended by 72-hours despite breach

The Gaza-Israel ceasefire has been extended by five days, despite an earlier breach, Hamas said late on Wednesday.

Izzat Risheq, spokesperson for Hamas’s political wing, announced on Twitter that the ceasefire would be enforced for another 72 hours “to continue consultations.” The timing was very quickly changed with various other sources saying that the a 120 hour truce had been agreed.

The statement came shortly before the original ceasefire was due to expire at midnight local time (2100 GMT).

Two hour prior to the ceasefire’s expiration, two rockets struck Israel from Gaza, in a move many commentators initially worried would cause hostilities to resume.  

Following the attack, Israel announced that it would recalled its reservists and there were initial reports that troops amassed on the border with Gaza were once again preparing for combat.

Hamas, however, was quick to deny involvement in the attack.

"Hamas denies firing any rockets toward Israel this evening," Hamas spokesperson Sami Abu Zuhri said in a post on his Facebook page. 

It was not immediately clear whether the Cairo peace talks, aimed at finding a longer lasting solution, have collapsed.

The Israeli delegation has returned to Israel, while the Palestinian factions have also left Cairo reportedly to consult about further action.  

Mousa Abu Marzouq, a senior Hamas official, however, has announced that his delegation will return to Cairo at the beginning of next week.

Egyptian sources told Israeli newspaper Haaretz that progress had been made, but that the two sides desperately needed more time to agree on the final wording of a deal.

“The sides understand that the progress made so far is encouraging, and that there is no reason to return to the military conflict,” an Egyptian source familiar with the talks said.

But Western diplomatic sources, quoted by the paper, were far less enthusiastic.

“I don’t see how a written or spoken agreement can be reached on key issues between Israel and Hamas,” the diplomat said. “The only chance left is to buy more time for negotiations.”

The key issue of lifting the Israeli air and naval blockade of Gaza is said to be the key stumbling block, despite reports emerging yesterday that the two sides were edging closer to a deal.

Meanwhile the death toll in Gaza has continued to climb. Two journalists and three bomb defusal experts were killed when an unexploded ordinance leftover from Operation Protective Edge went off.

A spokesman for the Interior Ministry said the squad had retrieved more than 1,000 unexploded items since the battle between Israeli forces and Hamas began on 7 July.

Three Palestinians also died from their injuries, Palestinian Ma’an news agency reported.