JERUSALEM
The Israeli army early on Saturday confirmed a humanitarian truce in the Gaza Strip, saying the truce would start at 5:00 GMT on the same day.
The army asked Gaza civilians, who were asked to leave their homes earlier, not to return to these homes during the aforementioned lull.
It added in a statement that it would respond immediately if Gaza "terrorists" decide to violate the truce and attack Israeli army personnel or Israeli civilians.
The Gaza-based Palestinian resistance movement Hamas said earlier in the day that Gaza factions had approved a United Nations-proposed 12-hour lull in Gaza.
"Gaza factions have approved a humanitarian calm for 12 hours on Saturday," Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri told Anadolu Agency, noting that the calm would start at 5:00 GMT.
An Israeli official said earlier that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had notified U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon that his country would begin a humanitarian truce in the Gaza Strip on Saturday.
The official added that the truce would last for 12 hours and that it would start at 4:00 GMT.
He was quoted by the website of the Israeli newspaper Haaretz that the truce aims to give the chance to the Palestinians of Gaza to receive food and water supplies, allow hospitals to get their medical needs and also give the chance to international organizations to offer humanitarian aid to the Gazans.
The Israeli government has not, however, issued an official statement about the truce yet.
Ban called during a press conference in the Egyptian capital Cairo late on Friday for a seven-day humanitarian truce in the Gaza Strip.
He said the truce could start with a 12-hour lull first and then these 12 hours could be extended later.
Since July 7, Israel has pounded the Gaza Strip with fierce aerial bombardments with the ostensible aim of halting rocket fire.
At least 869 Palestinians have been killed – mostly civilians – and more than 5730 others injured in Israel's ongoing offensive, now in its third week.
Gaza-based resistance factions, meanwhile, have continued to fire rocket at Israeli cities in response to relentless Israeli bombardments.
According to official Israeli figures, 35 Israeli soldiers and three civilians have been killed since the hostilities began.
Israel's military operation, dubbed operation "Protective Edge," is the self-proclaimed Jewish state's third major offensive against the densely-populate Gaza Strip – which is home to some 1.8 million Palestinians – within the last six years.
In 2008/9, over 1500 Palestinians were killed in Israel's three-week-long operation "Cast Lead."
By Abdel-Raouf Arnaout
www.aa.com.tr/en
