Israel Confirms Truce With Hamas In Gaza

Israel confirmed Wednesday that a cease-fire with the Hamas rulers of the Gaza Strip will begin Thursday.

If the fighting indeed ceases, Israel will next week agree to ease the blockade of the Gaza Strip, Israeli defense officials said. In tandem with the easements, talks on efforts to release an Israeli soldier held by Hamas will be intensified, the officials said on condition of anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the talks.

Egypt, the mediator of the talks, had announced the agreement on Tuesday, saying that it will begin Thursday at 6 a.m. (0300 GMT). Hamas confirmed the deal shortly afterward.

Egypt has committed as part of the deal to stop the smuggling of arms and weapons into the Gaza Strip, the officials said. A U.S. military engineering corps is slated to aid the Egyptian efforts, the officials said.

If Israel determines that Egyptian anti-smuggling efforts are serious, Hamas, Egypt and European officials will begin talks on the opening of the Rafah crossing between Egypt and Gaza, the officials said.

The truce was meant to end a violent cycle of Palestinian rocket attacks that have killed seven Israelis over the past year and Israeli reprisals that have killed more than 400 Palestinians.

But the phased approach is prone to pitfalls, and past truces have quickly broken down. Israel cautiously promised a "new reality" if the rocket fire ends.

The announcement capped months of Egyptian-brokered negotiations that have been repeatedly marred by violence. The deal was first announced in Cairo by Egypt's state-run news agency and quickly confirmed by Hamas. However, Hamas said it would respond to any Israeli attacks.

Underscoring the fragile situation, Israeli aircraft attacked three targets in southern Gaza, killing six Palestinian militants, Gaza medical officials said. In response, Palestinian militants fired seven rockets into Israel, the Israeli military said.

CBS News correspondent Robert Berger reports Israel was reluctant to accept the truce, fearing Hamas will use it to regroup and rearm for another round of violence. But Israeli analyst Chuck Freilich says that for now, a ceasefire is preferable to an Israeli invasion of Gaza.

"I don't think it'll last very long-term. It still looks like sooner or later we will have to go into Gaza in a big way, but it would be nice to try all possibilities that might allow us to avert that," said Freilich.

Still, after months of fighting, both sides seemed interested in a period of calm.

Israel wants to halt the incessant rocket and mortar attacks on its southern communities that have killed seven Israelis over the past year. Israeli reprisals have killed more than 400 Palestinians, many of them civilians, according to an Associated Press tally based on figures from hospital officials.

Israel also wants an end to Hamas arms smuggling into Gaza from Egypt, and the return of Cpl. Gilad Schalit, the Israeli soldier captured by Hamas-linked militants in a cross-border raid two years ago.

Hamas wants Israel to lift its crippling blockade of Gaza, which has led to widespread shortages of fuel, electricity and basic goods. Israeli imposed the sanctions after Hamas violently seized control of Gaza last year, and has tightened the blockade recently in response to increased rocket fire.

Gaza Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahar said all the armed factions in Gaza are on board with the truce. Speaking after another Hamas official outlined details of the truce at a news conference, Zahar said Hamas will not put down its weapons, because he did not believe Israel would implement the cease-fire. "We don't trust them, but let's see," he said.