Gaza cease-fire takes hold as negotiations resume

Associated Press

CAIRO

As a new temporary truce took hold, negotiators from Israel and the Hamas militant group resumed indirect talks Monday to reach a long-term cease-fire in the Gaza Strip.

The two sides huddled in an Egyptian government building for nine-consecutive hours, a Palestinian official said Monday, in what are expected to be marathon negotiations in the coming days.

The Palestinian delegations were more optimistic Monday, the Palestinian official told The Associated Press, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the negotiations with the media. He said progress was made on several issues.

The 72-hour truce, brokered by Egypt, took effect just after midnight, in the second attempt to halt a month of heavy fighting between the sides.

A similar three-day truce collapsed Friday when militants resumed rocket fire on Israel after the sides were unable to make any headway in Egyptian-brokered negotiations for a more lasting deal. Hamas is seeking an end to an Israeli-Egyptian border blockade, while Israel wants Hamas to disarm.

The monthlong war, pitting the Israeli military against rocket-firing Hamas militants, has killed more than 1,900 Palestinians, the majority civilians, Palestinian and U.N. officials say. In Israel, 67 people have been killed, all but three of them soldiers, officials there say.

The halt in violence allowed Palestinians in war-battered Gaza to leave homes and shelters.