UN, US announce 72-hour ceasefire in Gaza

United Nations The United Nations and United States announced that Israel and Hamas had agreed to a unconditional humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza for a period of 72 hours starting today allowing both sides to negotiate on a durable armisticeA joint statement issued by UN Secretary General Ban Kimoon and US Secretary of State John Kerry said that the UN representative in Jerusalem Special Coordinator Robert Serry has received assurances that all parties have agreed to an unconditional humanitarian ceasefire in GazaA Palestinian woman prays over the grave of a relative in a cemetery northwest of Gaza City on July 28 2014 Photo AFPThe ceasefire will commence at 8 am local time today and will last for 72 hours unless extendedDuring this time the forces on the ground will remain in placeIsraeli and Palestinian delegations will immediately go to Cairo for negotiations with the Egyptian government at the invitation of Egypt aimed at reaching a durable truceThe two sides will be able to raise all issues of concern in these talksWe urge all parties to act with restraint until this humanitarian ceasefire begins and to fully abide by their commitments during the ceasefire the statement saidThe ceasefire is critical to giving innocent civilians a muchneeded reprieve from violence it saidDuring the ceasefire civilians in Gaza will receive urgently needed humanitarian relief and would be able to carry out vital functions including burying the dead taking care of the injured and restocking food suppliesOverdue repairs on essential water and energy infrastructure could also continue during this periodWe thank key regional stakeholders for their vital support of this process and count on a continued collaborative international effort to assist Egypt and the parties reach a durable ceasefire as soon as possible Ban and Kerry said in the statementEarlier yesterday Commissioner General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East UNRWA Pierre Krahenbuhl told the UN Security Council via video conference that damage to neighbourhoods and essential infrastructure in Gaza was clear and it was past time for an immediate and unconditional ceasefireHe said despite Israels legitimate security concerns the illegal blockade of Gaza must be lifted because the situation could become unlivable within just a few years adding that urgent international steps were needed to ensure security for the entire regionHe said the current reality in Gaza was unsustainable and the political and humanitarian costs grew daily as infrastructure was destroyed and international law violatedHe underlined that rocket fire on Israeli cities was unacceptable and had to ceaseHe described scenes from a hospital paediatric ward where he had seen injuries to children that were The real and unacceptable consequence of an armed conflict waged with excessive and at times disproportionate force in densely populated urban settingsHe said artillery fire that had struck an elementary girls school in Jabalaya believed to have come from the Israeli militaryThe school was a designated emergency shelter for displaced persons and its location well known to Israeli forces he said strongly condemning the attack as a serious violation of international lawNoting the unacceptability of rocket fire on Israeli cities he described 3 separate occasions in which UNRWA had found rockets belonging to armed groups in its empty facilities immediately alerting all relevant parties each timeHe strongly condemned placement of weapons in UN agency facilities and said he was working to improve procedures to address such violationsKrahenbuhl said the number of internally displaced persons was growing daily with 220000 people currently displacedThe number was four times higher than the peak number of displaced people in the 20082009 conflict and UNRWA was doing everything to provide them with minimum needsConditions are increasingly becoming dire in shelters with hygiene especially worryingPregnant women and newborn babies were being sheltered in appalling conditions while the ongoing hostilities severely restricted the Agencys ability to mitigate the situation he saidHe expressed concern about additional displacement since UNRWA was not able to accommodate more peopleHe particularly expressed concern about the Israeli militarys recent instruction to residents in neighbourhoods of Gaza City and Khan Younis to evacuate their homes and appealed to the international community to help address the extreme situation