Gaza, Palestine (BBN)-Israel and Hamas have begun a 12-hour humanitarian window in Gaza.
Israel said it would continue to “locate and neutralise” Hamas tunnels during the pause, which began at 0800 local time (0500 GMT), and vowed to respond if it came under attack, reports BBC.
International efforts to negotiate a longer seven-day ceasefire are still ongoing.
Israeli strikes killed 19 Palestinians overnight, medical sources said. Two Israeli soldiers were also killed.
Over 870 Palestinians, mostly civilians, and 38 Israelis have died since the conflict started on 8 July.
Foreign ministers from the US, UK, Turkey and Qatar are among those meeting in France later on Saturday to try to negotiate a longer-term truce.
‘CONFIDENT OF CEASEFIRE’
A spokesman for Hamas, the Islamist group that controls Gaza, Sami Abu Zuhri said late on Friday that there was “national consensus on a humanitarian truce… for 12 hours on Saturday”.
The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) later confirmed the truce on Twitter. “We will respond if terrorists choose to exploit this time to attack IDF personnel or fire at Israeli civilians,” it said in a statement.
On Friday, US Secretary of State John Kerry said he was still confident of a longer ceasefire, despite media reports that Israel had rejected one proposal.
The announcement of the humanitarian window came shortly after Israeli Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon warned that ground operations in Gaza could soon be broadened “significantly”.
Yaalon told soldiers: “You need to be ready for the possibility that very soon we will instruct the military to significantly broaden the ground operation in Gaza”.
Hamas has previously said it would not agree to any long-term truce that did not lead to an end to Israel’s blockade of the Gaza Strip.
The British ambassador to the UN, Mark Lyall Grant, said he was disappointed at the failure to reach a longer-term truce.
But he welcomed Saturday’s 12-hour truce, saying it could “open up a little bit of space to work on a more sustainable ceasefire.”
WEST BANK CLASHES
According to the UN, Israeli air strikes killed a further 68 people in Gaza on Friday, bringing the total number of Palestinian dead to about 870.
There were also clashes during protests in the West Bank which left at least five Palestinians dead.
Palestinians in the West Bank had been taking part in a “Day of Rage” against Israel’s military operation in the Gaza Strip.
Meanwhile Israel’s military said its Iron Dome defence system had intercepted several rockets fired across the border by Hamas.
Later it said that two of its soldiers had been killed in Gaza during the night.
Israel launched its military offensive on 8 July with the declared objective of stopping Hamas firing rockets into Israel.
It has since extended its operation to destroy tunnels dug by militants to infiltrate Israel.
Several foreign ministers, including Kerry, are due to hold a meeting in France on Saturday to seek a diplomatic solution.
“The goal is to bring together international efforts so that as quickly as possible conditions for a cease-fire in Gaza emerge,” said a French foreign ministry spokesman.
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