Israel, Hamas agree to 2-hour truce in Gaza's Shejaiya

Gaza City: Israel and Hamas have agreed to observe an immediate
two-hour humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza's Shejaiya
neighbourhood, halting a blistering bombing campaign in the area,
sources on both sides said Sunday.
Hamas also said its militants would abide by the truce, which both
sides said was brokered by the International Committee of the Red
Cross.
"There is going to be a humanitarian window between 1:30 and
3:30 (1030 and 1230 GMT) in Shejaiya," an army spokeswoman
said.
"The population is urged to evacuate within this timeframe to
areas west of Shejaiya," the army said on its official Twitter page.
"Any attempt to exploit this lull will be answered," it said.
Hamas said it had agreed to the Red Cross proposal although it
spoke of a three-hour lull.
"The ICRC contacted (us) and offered to broker a three-hour
humanitarian truce to enable ambulances to evacuate the dead
and wounded and Hamas accepted it," spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri
said in a statement.
Contacted by AFP, an ICRC spokesman refused to confirm or deny
it had made the proposal, saying only: "We have been making
every effort to ensure ways to evacuate the dead and the
wounded."
The move came
after Israel pounded
Shejaiya, which lies
between Gaza City
and the border
fence, leaving at
least 40 people
dead and nearly
400 wounded.
The intensity of the
bombardment
prevented
emergency services
from accessing the
neighbourhood and
dead bodies lay in the streets as thousands fled in terror