BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Israel's security cabinet late
Saturday voted to extend the humanitarian truce with Gaza
militants for 24 hours, media reported.
The Israeli newspaper Haaretz said on its website that after
being pressed by the UN, Israel agreed to halt airstrikes
and shellings on the Gaza Strip until midnight Sunday, but
would continue locating and destroying tunnels.
The report said the army would respond to any violation of
the ceasefire.
A diplomatic source had told Haaretz earlier that Hamas
would agree to a 24-hour extension of the ceasefire.
Earlier Israeli media reported that Israel had extended the
humanitarian ceasefire from 8 p.m to 12:00 a.m., but a
Hamas spokesman said the Islamist movement had not
been consulted about the extension.
Al-Qassam Brigades said it fired rockets into Israel 40
minutes after the truce officially expired.
A Ma'an reporter in Gaza said that following rocket fire,
Israeli forces shot a man dead in Deir al-Balah and shelled
an area east of Rafah.
Also late Saturday, the Israeli army said two soldiers who
had been wounded in Gaza in recent days had died of their
wounds, bringing the number of soldiers killed since the
beginning of the ground invasion to 42.
Another rocket was intercepted by the Iron Dome over
Kiryat Ekron in central Israel.
The Palestinian death toll in Gaza rose to well over 1,000 on
Saturday, as search teams recovered bodies from destroyed
buildings during the brief ceasefire.
Some 151 bodies were recovered during the 12-hour
window, according to the Ministry of Health.
Nearly 6,000 Palestinians have been injured in the offensive.
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