Palestinians inspect destroyed buildings after what witnesses said was an Israeli air strike in Gaza City November 20, 2012. (Reuters/Mohammed Salem)
A ceasefire agreement between Hamas and Israel has been delayed indefinitely as Israel has not yet responded to proposals for the Egyptian-brokered truce. Hamas says a deal still can be reached within the next 24 hours.
The leader of Hamas, Ezzat al-Rishq, said that the movement has not yet received any response to the proposals put before the Israeli authorities, and that it might take another day to reach a deal.
"The truce is now held up because we are waiting for the Israeli side to respond,” Rishq told Reuters. "We … must wait until tomorrow."
Israel's negotiation team has reportedly rejected a draft ceasefire, delaying the truce announcement indefinitely, the Times of Israel reports, citing local media.
Earlier, Arabic news sources cited Hamas official Ayman Taha as saying an Egyptian-brokered ceasefire was set to be declared in Gaza at 19:00 GMT, and would go into effect at 22:00 GMT. Israel said that a ceasefire deal has yet to be finalized.
US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton has arrived in Tel Aviv and to meet with the Israeli prime minister. She is not expected though to meet with Hamas leaders.
“America's commitment to Israel’s security is rock-solid and unwavering,” Clinton told the press before the closed-door meeting with Netanyahu. “We appreciate President Morsi's personal leadership and Egypt's efforts thus far,” she added.
A ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas is yet to be cemented, and the "ball is still in play", Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev told CNN on Tuesday. "Until you're there, you're not there," he said. A senior Hamas official later told the network that “a calming down” would be announced at 19:00 GMT which would limit the violence, if not bring about an official truce.
Their comments conflict with a previous statement by Hamas official Ayman Taha, who claimed that that an Egyptian-brokered truce had been finalized. An Egyptian source close to the negotiations confirmed that "up to this point there is no final decision," Sky News cites him as saying.
However, further clouding the nature of the uncertain ceasefire, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reportedly agreed to a cessation of hostilities after being significantly pressured from Washington, Israel’s Channel 10 news reports government sources as saying.
Hamas’ political bureau chief Khaled Meshaal and his negotiators met with Egypt’s intelligence chief Raafat Shehata in Cairo in an effort to hammer out the final details of the cease-fire agreement on Tuesday.
Israel’s delegates were scheduled to return to Cairo to present Israel’s response to demands being made by Hamas. Senior Egyptian officials told Haaretz that a solution was near, but more flexibility was needed from the Israeli side.
Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi announced earlier in the day that the “farce” of Israeli aggression
would end on Tuesday.
RT 
