http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middl...e-agreed-with-israel-2014826135242392859.html
Hamas accepts a deal that it rejected before. Israel accepts a deal without removing the rocket threat.
Big winners: proponents of the status quo ante. Other big winners: Contractors lining up to rebuild Gaza and make a buck off of humanitarian relief.
Losers in Hamas camp: Meshal, Qatar, Turkey
Losers in Israel: Bennett, Liberman
Wild cards: Both peace camps. Curious if they can capitalize
Palestinians are celebrating in Gaza after Egyptian and Palestinian officials said an open-ended agreement had been sealed with Israel to end seven weeks of fighting in Gaza.
The Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, said on Tuesday from the occupied West Bank that a formula had been accepted by all parties and that a ceasefire had gone into effect at 16.00 GMT.
He hailed the agreement as a chance to "build a new nation and end the occupation", before thanking Egypt, Qatar and the US for their roles in brokering the agreement made during indirect talks in Cairo.
The Reuters and AP news agencies quoted Israeli officials as saying that the Israeli government had accepted the deal. Israeli media reported the same.
Crowds took to the bombed-out streets of Gaza to celebrate the end of hostilities, and reports that the deal would include reconstruction and an easing of Israel's almost seven-year blockade.
Al Jazeera's Andrew Simmons, reporting Gaza, said that the deal agreed an immediate easing of Israel's control of crossings into Gaza, and a gradual lifting of restrictions on fishing off the coast of the strip.
Discussions on the creation of a seaport and airport will take place in a month, when indirect talks betwen Israel and Palestinians will resume.
Hamas's exiled deputy leader, Moussa Abu Marzouk, said the agreement was a "victory for the resistance".
Israeli air raids continued in the run up to the ceasefire on Tuesday, as jets attacked two Gaza City high-rise buildings, collapsing one and severely damaging the other.
One attack levelled the 15-storey Basha tower and severely damaged a 13-storey building known as the Italian complex, which was home to 70 families and dozens of shops and offices.
Palestinian health officials said 20 people were wounded in the Italian complex attack.
A total of 2,138 people, most of them civilians including more than 490 children, have been killed in Gaza since war broke out on July 8.
Thousands of homes have been destroyed or damaged in the conflict, while the Palestinian Center for Human Rights said 540,000 people had been displaced by the violence.
Hamas accepts a deal that it rejected before. Israel accepts a deal without removing the rocket threat.
Big winners: proponents of the status quo ante. Other big winners: Contractors lining up to rebuild Gaza and make a buck off of humanitarian relief.
Losers in Hamas camp: Meshal, Qatar, Turkey
Losers in Israel: Bennett, Liberman
Wild cards: Both peace camps. Curious if they can capitalize
they won, they get a few easing of certain sanctions, which is what they wanted. The tunnels will be rebuilt