Israel, Palestinians agree on long-term Gaza truce

Gaza/Jerusalem: Israel and the Palestinians on Tuesday agreed on a long-term Egyptian-brokered ceasefire to end the devastating 50-day war in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip that has killed over 2,200 people.

"An agreement has been reached between the two sides and we are awaiting the announcement from Cairo to determine the zero hour for implementation," said Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri. Zuhri said Egypt was expected to make an official announcement on the deal.

Cairo's initiative, Palestinians officials said, called for an indefinite halt to seven weeks of hostilities, the immediate opening of Gaza's blockaded crossings with Israel and Egypt and a widening of the enclave's fishing zone in the Mediterranean, the Jerusalem Post reported.

Under a second stage that would begin a month later, Israel and the Palestinians would discuss the construction of a Gaza sea port and an Israeli release of Hamas prisoners in the West Bank, the officials said.

A senior Palestinian official also confirmed that the Palestinians have reached an agreement with Israel on a "permanent" truce in Gaza. There was no immediate comment from Israel on the claimed deal to end the deadly conflict in and around the enclave.

The Palestinian official gave no time for when a ceasefire would take effect but said President Mahmud Abbas would give further details in a speech from his West Bank headquarters at 1600 GMT (2130 IST).