Israel agrees to Egypt's Gaza ceasefire proposal

The Israeli cabinet Tuesday agreed on an Egyptian initiative for Gaza truce, even as the Islamic Hamas movement rejected the proposal, saying that there will be no ceasefire before reaching an agreement.

Egypt presented a five-point initiative for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip Monday, calling for a ceasefire on the ground, and then inviting the conflicting parties to go to Cairo for a detailed agreement, BBC reported.

Israel's security cabinet, convened by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, voted to approve the truce, minutes before the proposed time for it to come into effect.

"We reject any ceasefire before reaching a truce agreement," Xinhua quoted Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri as saying earlier in a statement.

Since July 8, Israel has been engaged in a large-scale aerial operation against the Gaza Strip, where Israeli war jets have carried out hundreds of intensive strikes on targets that belong to Hamas and other militant groups in the coastal enclave.

The Gaza-based health ministry said the operation has killed 187 people, wounded 1,390 others, and destroyed more than 250 houses.