Israel, Hamas agree to 72-hour truce in Gaza

The Israeli military and Hamas militants have reportedly agreed to a 72-hour ceasefire in Gaza, starting from Tuesday.

According to the BBC, on Monday Israel held its own seven-hour "humanitarian window" in Gaza but then resumed its military operations.

While the two parties have agreed to several ceasefires before, a few have lasted with both sides blaming each other for repeated violations.

Following the declaration of a fresh truce, a senior Israeli official said that Israel would accept the draft of the Egyptian proposal for an unconditional ceasefire, without preconditions and for 72 hours.

Sami Abu Zuhri, a spokesman for Hamas confirmed that Hamas told Egypt of its acceptance of a 72-hour period of calm.

Israel on Sunday withdrew most of its ground troops from Gaza after a month long strikes against Hamas.

Around 1800 Palestinians and 60 Israelis have been killed since the month-long operation commenced.

Even after Israel claimed that it had removed troops from Gaza, there was an Israeli air strike near a Gaza school that killed 10 people on Sunday. UN had strongly condemned the act.

The military operation in Gaza was launched on July 8 that included hundreds of air strikes across the Gaza strip.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel's main goal was to "return quiet and security to its citizens.