A new 3-day ceasefire has begun in Gaza after Israeli and Palestinian officials agreed to a proposal by Egypt on Sunday.
"Israel has accepted Egypt's proposal," a senior Israeli government official told Reuters, adding that if the truce held, negotiators would return to Cairo to resume indirect talks with the Palestinians.
Izzat al-Reshiq, a Hamas negotiator in Cairo, told the news agency: "In light of Israel's acceptance of the truce and their return without pre-conditions, we will inform the Egyptian brothers of our positive response."
Egypt's Foreign Ministry urged "both sides to exploit this truce to resume indirect negotiations immediately and work towards a comprehensive and lasting ceasefire agreement".
A previous truce expired on Friday, which saw an immediate resumption of hostilities. 19 Palestinians died in Israeli air strikes since Friday, with Hamas firing rockets and mortars into southern Israel, leaving two civilians injured.
Hamas urges PA to join ICC
The Middle East Eye reported on Sunday that Hamas is demanding that President Mahmoud Abbas signs the Rome Statute which will allow Palestine to join the International Criminal Court.
Hamas’s deputy chairman and chief negotiator in Cairo, Moussa Abu Marzouk has been instructed to sign the document supporting the State of Palestine as a member of the ICC.
The document has already been signed by the PLO executive committee, Fatah Central Committee and other PLO organisations such as the Popular Front and the Democratic Front, but President Abbas is reported to be resisting, due to “forceful opposition of the United States and the European Union” the MEE further said.
Actors who spoke out against Gaza deaths under pressure7
Meanwhile, actors Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem are facing a backlash from Hollywood producers, after they signed a letter in Spain, calling on the EU to end “the genocide perpetrated by the Israeli occupation army".
The Hollywood Reporter said that a top producer had vowed not to hire Cruz again with another saying that he was “furious” at the Spanish actors.
Relativity Media chief executive Ryan Kavanaugh was the only studio head willing to go public with his views: "As the grandson of Holocaust survivors, I know that anyone calling what's going on in Israel 'genocide' vs. self-defense is either ignorant and shouldn't be commenting or is truly anti-Semitic."
Death toll continues to rise in Gaza and West Bank (09 August 2014)