Israel, Palestinians agree to extend truce another 72 hours

Israel and Palestinian factions agreed this evening to extend a three-day Gaza truce by an additional 72 hours, a Palestinian official with knowledge of the negotiations in Cairo said.

“Factions agreed to extend the 72-hour truce for an extended period of three days,” the official said, the sides reaching a deal within minutes of the expiration of the latest ceasefire that halted fighting on Monday.

Israel had no immediate comment.

Earlier, a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip landed inside southern Israel, an Israeli police spokesman said, violating the truce.

Spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said the rocket caused no damage or casualties, and that it was the first rocket fired from Gaza at Israel since the truce took effect on Monday.

A Hamas spokesman denied any rockets had been fired from the Gaza Strip.

Spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said Hamas “denies there was any rocket fire at the occupation this evening,” referring to Israel.

The firing was reported two hours before the expiry of a three-day truce in a more than month-old war.

A child was killed and two others were wounded when a rocket landed on their home in the town of el-Mattallah south of Rafah in Egypt, near the border with Gaza, security and medical sources said this evening.

Sara Salama (13) died while her brother Khaled (8) and sister Rahaf (2) sustained serious injuries and were taken to hospital.

A journalist and a freelance Palestinian translator assisting him have been killed in an ordnance explosion while working on an assignment in Gaza strip.

Associated Press (AP) video journalist Simone Camilli and Ali Shehda Abu Afash died when ordnance left over from fighting between Israel and Islamic militants blew up as Gazan police engineers were working to neutralise it in the northern Gaza town of Beit Lahiya.

Police said three police engineers were also killed, while four people, including AP photographer Hatem Moussa, were badly injured.

Mr Camilli, an Italian national, had worked for the Associated Press since being hired as a freelancer in Rome in 2005. He relocated to Jerusalem in 2006, and often covered assignments in Gaza.

Mr Camilli (35) is the first foreign journalist killed in the Gaza conflict, which has taken more than 1,900 Palestinian lives and 67 on the Israeli side. He leaves behind his long-time partner and a three-year-old daughter.

Abu Afash, a 36-year-old Gaza resident, leaves behind a wife and two daughters, aged five and six. He often worked with the international media as a translator and news assistant.

Najib Jobain, the AP’s chief producer in Gaza, said Mr Camilli was a welcome face in Gaza who had recently turned down an assignment in Iraq to come to the strip.

“He was my brother. I have known him for almost 10 years. He was so happy to be with me working in Gaza,” Mr Jobain said. “He was asked, ‘Do you want to go to Irbil or Gaza?’ He said, ‘I’ll go to Gaza’.”

Agencies