Israel and Hamas agree to Gaza truce

By Nidal al-Mughrabi

GAZA (Reuters) - An Egyptian-brokered cease-fire between Israel and Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip that could ease a crippling Israeli blockade of the coastal territory will begin Thursday, Egypt and Hamas said.

The announcement came on a day when Israel launched air strikes that killed six militants in Gaza. A cease-fire would aim to end rocket and mortar bomb attacks on Israel from the coastal enclave and Israeli raids and air strikes in the territory.

"Both sides have pledged to halt all hostilities and all military activities against each other," Egyptian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hossam Zaki said in Cairo Tuesday, after weeks of separate talks with Israel and Hamas.

Confirming details provided to Reuters by a Palestinian official in Gaza Tuesday, Zaki said the truce would go into effect at 6 a.m. (11:00 p.m. EDT) Thursday.

Israel has said it would continue preparing for possible large-scale military action should a truce fall apart.

Hamas leader in Gaza Mahmoud al-Zahar confirmed that militant groups had agreed to a cease-fire with Israel.

"We ... as Palestinian factions, agreed upon a bilateral, immediate cease-fire between the Palestinian side and the Israeli side," Zahar told reporters in English during a news conference in Gaza City. He said the truce was intended to last six months.

Israel's Defense Minister Ehud Barak sounded a more cautious tone but said Israel would give it every chance.

"It's early to herald a cease-fire, and even if it were to happen ... it is difficult to estimate how long it will last. The test will be in the implementation but it is important to give it a chance," Barak said in a speech north of Tel Aviv.

The Israeli defense ministry said one of its senior officials, Amos Gilad, was flying to Cairo later Tuesday to be updated on the progress of the truce negotiations.

Senior Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said his group believed the cease-fire would hold and would prove beneficial to the some 1.5 million Palestinians living in the coastal enclave.

"We believe that what was agreed upon will last and the Palestinian people will see the fruits of their endurance," Haniyeh said.

The White House had no comment on reports of the truce.

U.S. officials, who reject contact with Hamas because they view it as a terrorist organization, were dubious, and dismissive of suggestions they were being eclipsed as peace brokers.

"We'll see first of all whether there is actually an agreement," State Department spokesman Tom Casey said. "Even if this is a true report, I think, unfortunately, it hardly takes Hamas out of the terrorism business."