Israel-Gaza ceasefire expected ‘within a day or two,’ says senior Hamas official

Two sides reported to have agreed a truce in principle in secret talks

Israel and Gaza militants are set to reach a ceasefire "within a day or two" to end 10 days of cross-border violence, a senior Hamas official has said.

Moussa Abu Marzouk’s comments late on Wednesday came after Joe Biden urged Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu to seek a "de-escalation" of the conflict, which has killed at least 240 people.

Mr Abu Marzouk, a senior political official with Hamas, told Lebanon's al-Mayadeen TV: "I think that the ongoing efforts regarding the ceasefire will succeed,"

"I expect a ceasefire to be reached within a day or two, and the ceasefire will be on the basis of mutual agreement.”

An Egyptian security source said the two sides had agreed in principle to a ceasefire after help from mediators, although details were still being negotiated in secret.

Palestinian health officials say 228 people have been killed since 10 May by Israel’s aerial bombardments, which have worsened Gaza's already dire humanitarian situation.

Israeli authorities put the death toll at 12 on the other side of the border, where thousands of Hamas rockets have caused panic and sent people rushing into shelters.

Middle Eastern and US diplomatic efforts to secure a ceasefire have intensified but so far failed. Cross-border fire continued unabated after Mr Biden's latest call for calm, and Gaza's Islamist rulers Hamas and other militants have publicly vowed defiance.

Mr Netanyahu has repeatedly hailed what he has described as support from the US, Israel's main ally, for a right to self-defence in battling attacks from Gaza, home to two million Palestinians.

But the US president warned the Israeli leader in a telephone call that it was time to lower the intensity of the conflict.

"The two leaders had a detailed discussion on the state of events in Gaza, Israel's progress in degrading the capabilities of Hamas and other terrorist elements, and ongoing diplomatic efforts by regional governments and the United States," White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters.

"The president conveyed to the prime minister that he expected a significant de-escalation today on the path to a ceasefire."

But at the United Nations, the US mission said it would not support a French push for a Security Council resolution, saying it believed such actions would "undermine efforts to de-escalate" violence.

In a statement released soon after Jean-Pierre's comments, Mr Netanyahu said: "I am determined to continue this operation until its objective is achieved - to restore quiet and security to you, the citizens of Israel."

The Israeli PM had earlier told a meeting with foreign envoys to Israel that "it is not possible to set a timeframe" for the operations, Israeli media reported.

In response to Mr Biden's de-escalation call, Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassam said those who sought to restore calm must "compel Israel to end its aggression in Jerusalem and its bombardment of Gaza" to create "room to talk".

The leader of Islamic Jihad, another Gaza militant group, said political talks "remain at a standstill".

"The only path towards freedom [is] to protect Jerusalem and people," said Islamic Jihad chief Ziad Al-Nakhala.

With Gaza rocket fire continuing into Wednesday night, a 72-year-old man was moderately injured when a rocket struck his house in the southern Israeli city of Sderot, medics said.

An Israeli air strike late on Wednesday in Deir Al-Balah, in central Gaza, killed a Palestinian man, his two-year-old daughter and his wife, who was seven months pregnant, medics said.

The Israeli military said its air strikes on Wednesday night had targeted buildings in north and south Gaza that it said were used by Hamas naval forces.

Hamas began firing rockets on 10 May in retaliation for what alleged Israeli rights abuses against Palestinians in Jerusalem during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

The rocket attacks followed Israeli security police clashes with worshippers at al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem and attempts by Israeli settlers to evict Palestinians from a neighbourhood in Israeli-annexed East Jerusalem.

Around 4,000 rockets have been fired from Gaza since 10 May, most of which have been intercepted by missile defences, the Israeli military said. Some 600 fell in Gaza, it added.

Nearly 450 buildings in densely populated Gaza have been destroyed or badly damaged, including six hospitals and nine primary-care health centres, and more than 52,000 Palestinians have been displaced, the UN humanitarian agency said.

"Whoever wants to learn about the humanity of the [Israeli] should come to the Gaza Strip and look at the houses that got destroyed on top of those who lived in them," said university lecturer Ahmed al-Astal, standing by the rubble of his house in Khan Younis in southern Gaza.

The hostilities are the most serious between Hamas and Israel in years, and, in a departure from previous Gaza conflicts, have fuelled street violence in Israeli cities between Jews and Arabs.

The conflict has also spilled over to the Israel-Lebanon frontier and stoked violence in the occupied West Bank.