Both sides agree Gaza ceasefire
While diplomatic efforts continued, Israel struck more than 100 targets in Gaza, including a cluster of government buildings, in attacks that medical officials said killed 10 people, among them a two-year-old boy.
Palestinian militants fired more than 30 rockets at Israel, causing no casualties, and the Iron Dome interceptor system shot down 14 of them, police said.
In Tel Aviv, targeted by rockets from Gaza that either did not hit the city or were shot down by Israel's Iron Dome interceptor system, 15 people were wounded when a commuter bus was blown up near the Defence Ministry and military headquarters.
The accord says that "Israel shall stop all hostilities on the Gaza Strip, land, sea and air, including incursions and targeting of individuals," Egypt's state-run Ahram Gate reported. It also says that "all Palestinian factions shall stop all hostilities from the Gaza Strip against Israel, including rocket attacks and attacks along the border."
US president Barack Obama spoke with Egyptian president Mohamed Mursi to thank him for his efforts, the White House said in a statement tonight.
"There was tremendous US pressure on the Egyptians, who in turn pressured Hamas to accept terms which are not set in stone, including it seems regarding the Gaza blockade," said Gerald Steinberg, political science professor at Bar Ilan University outside Tel Aviv.
"The Obama administration has now placed itself as the guarantor of the agreement's terms, including the halt in rocket attacks, and they are probably going to be tested very quickly," he said.
Israel says any truce must guarantee the end of rocket attacks, while Hamas is demanding an end to the blockade of Gaza and the permanent opening of its border with Egypt. It also called in the accord for free movement across Gaza's borders, Ahram Gate said.
Israel has massed armour on its border east of Gaza and is calling up 75,000 reservists for a possible ground operation. An incursion would be the first since December 2008, when fighting left more than 1,100 Palestinians and 13 Israelis dead.
"Egypt stresses its historical commitment to the Palestinian issue and to the necessity of finding a fair and comprehensive solution," Mr Amr said.
"It will continue its efforts to realize this noble goal through working" to end Palestinian divisions, he said.
"Egypt calls everyone to follow up on the implementation of what has been reached, under Egyptian sponsorship, and to guarantee that all the sides abide by what has been reached," Mr Amr said.
The accord stipulates refraining from targeting residents in border areas and said that procedures of "implementation shall be dealt with after 24 hours from the start of the cease- fire." It also says that "Egypt shall receive assurances from each party that the party commits to what was agreed upon," the state-run Middle East News Agency (Mena) reported.
The deal, outlined in two main parts, says each side "commits itself not to perform any acts" that would breach the agreement and that Egypt, as the "sponsor of this understanding" would be asked to follow up in the case of any violations of the deal, Mena said.
Agencies
