Israel and Hamas agreed to Egyptian ceasefire proposal on 26 August 2014 after bloodiest battle of 50 days. This time the ceasefire is for unlimited time. People of Gaza welcomed the decision to hold ceasefire.
The agreement proposed by Egypt• A mutual ceasefire
• Israel to extend fishing limit off Gaza's coast from three to six miles with the prospect of expanding it further.
• Gaza's borders to be taken over by Palestinian Authority.
• PA to lead rebuilding efforts
• Reduction of security buffer inside Gaza from 300m to 100m by Israel.
• Israel to open more of its Gaza crossings and Egypt to open Rafah.
However, some issues were still not resolved. The issues regarding Hamas's demand for a Gaza seaport and airport and Israel's demand for Gaza’s demilitarization would be addressed after a month if the agreement of ceasefire succeeds.
Background
The agreement came on the 50th day of the Israel-Gaza conflict. Although Egypt had first proposed the ceasefire agreement on 15 July 2014 but it was rejected by the Hamas. The failure of the Egypt-brokered ceasefire meant the continuation of the Operation Protective Edge by Israel.
The Operation, till its cessation on 26 August 2014, had led to loss of around 2100 Palestinians lives and displacement of 1.7 million residents. In Israel, 64 soldiers were killed along with 5 civilians.
Further, as estimated by United Nations, the physical damage of this conflict was three times severe than Operation Cast Lead, Israel’s first war against Hamas in 2008-09.
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