Israeli Withdraws Troops from Gaza, Hamas & Netanyahu Agree on 72-Hour Ceasefire

Israel announced the withdrawal of its military troops from Gaza as both Hamas and the Jewish nation agreed to a 72-hour ceasefire brokered by Egypt. The Israeli troops will now be stationed outside Gaza at defensive positions.

Israeli military officials claimed that the primary goal of the invasion was achieved as the troops successfully destroyed the "terror tunnels" in the Gaza Strip. The troops are scheduled to leave the territory before the 72-hour ceasefire starts. The decision of the truce was brokered by Egypt on Tuesday, August 5. Representatives of Islamic Jihad and Hamas agreed to put an end to the bloodshed. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu too decided to pay attention to Egypt's appeal and end the atrocity in Palestine.

"Israel has notified Egypt of its acceptance of its proposal for a ceasefire," Netanyahu's office made the confirmation. Hamas too confirmed that it had accepted the ceasefire proposal. "Hamas told Egypt a short while ago of its acceptance of a 72-hour period of calm," Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said.

In the meantime, Gaza seemed to have resumed the normal course of life as traffic started to pick up. Shops opened up after several days as life in the Gaza City had been far from normal since July 17 when Israel began its offensive on the city. Lt. Col. Peter, the spokesman of the Israeli military, said that they were able to destroy 32 tunnels in Gaza over the night. "Overnight, we completed the destruction of 32 tunnels in the Gaza Strip," he said. "They were part of a strategic Hamas plan to carry out attacks against southern Israel." In addition, according to IDF sources, at least 900 Hamas activists were killed during the Israeli offensive on Gaza.

The Gaza Health Ministry said that over 1,900 people had been killed in Palestine. Most of the deceased people were civilians, it said. On the contrary, there were three Israeli civilians were killed during the attack while 64 Israeli soldiers were also killed.

Contact the writer: s.mukhopadhyay@ibtimes.com.au