According to a spokesman, the Israel Defense Forces are being “redeployed” to “defensive positions” at Gaza’s border after a four-week operation that has left thousands of Palestinians dead, wounded and displaced.

BBC News:

[Israel] says the main aim of its offensive – to destroy militants’ tunnels – has been achieved.

A 72-hour truce – brokered by Egyptian mediators late on Monday – came into force at 08:00 local time (05:00 GMT) and appears to be holding…Just minutes before the truce came into effect, air raid sirens sounded in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv as Hamas militants fired a barrage of rockets at central Israel. Israeli forces also staged raids in Gaza shortly before the ceasefire began…

There is some suggestion that an Israeli delegation may be preparing to go to Cairo for talks on a more long-term truce. There has been intense international pressure on Israel to try to negotiate an end to the fighting, particularly given the incidents at UN schools in Gaza and the high number of Palestinian civilian casualties.

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—Posted by Natasha Hakimi Zapata