Jerusalem/Gaza, 15 July: Israel today accepted an Egypt-proposed ceasefire plan to halt its deadly offensive on the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip but the Palestinian militant groups rejected it calling it a “surrender”, even as the death toll in the nine-day long conflict rose to 192.
Despite Hamas' rejection of the ceasefire proposal, which got into effect at 9 a.m. local time, the truce has largely held itself with several hours of lull in violence since morning.
Israel's security cabinet and the coalition partners in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government, however, were divided on the decision to accept the ceasefire proposal with vociferous opposition raised by some of the key leaders.
Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman voted against the ceasefire plan, as did Bayit Yehudi leader Naftali Bennett.
