Agencies-Gaza post
Reuters:Israel, Palestinians agree truce from Sunday evening
Israel and Palestinian factions agreed to a truce in Gaza from Sunday evening as mediated by Cairo, sources reported, after a weekend-long pounding of Palestinian targets by Israel triggered longer-range missile attacks against its cities.
An Egyptian security source stated Israel had agreed to the proposal, while a Palestinian official familiar with Egyptian efforts said the ceasefire would go into achieve at 20:00 (1700 GMT).
Spokespeople for Israel and Islamic Jihad, the faction it has been fighting in Gaza since clashes began on Friday, did not emphasized this, saying only that they were in contact with Cairo.
The flare-up, recalling preludes to the last Gaza wars, has worried world powers.
While, it has been relatively contained as Hamas, the governing Islamist group in the Gaza Strip and more powerful force than Iranian-backed Islamic Jihad, has so far stayed out.
Gaza health said 43 Palestinians, at least a third of them civilians, had so far been killed.
The missiles have paralysed much of southern Israel and sent citizens in cities including Tel Aviv and Ashkelon to shelters.
The Egyptian security source added earlier that the proposed ceasefire was to take effect at 2100 GMT.
