Israel, Palestinians extend truce

News agencies cited an unnamed Palestinian official late on Monday, who said the two sides had agreed to extend the current five-day ceasefire for 24 hours to allow them to continue talks on a longer lasting truce.

"Both sides have agreed to a 24-hour ceasefire," the AFP news agency quoted the official with the Palestinian delegation at the negotiations in Cairo as saying.

"Palestinians and Israelis agreed on extending ceasefire by 24 hours to continue current negotiations," the Egyptian state news agency MENA reported, quoting what it described as "an official Egyptian statement."

Local media also quoted Israeli officials who confirmed that the Jewish state had also agreed to the extension.

The apparent agreement comes despite the fact that the Palestinian militant group Hamas had repeatedly warned it would not extend the ceasefire.

A month-long offensive by Israel Defense Forces in the Gaza Strip, which began on July 8 and was aimed at stopping militant rocket fire at the Jewish state, killed more than 2,000 Palestinians, most of whom were civilians. Sixty-six Israelis, most of whom were soldiers, were also killed in the fighting.

pfd/msh (dpa, Reuters, AFP, AP)