Israel Accepts Egyptian Cease-fire Bid
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by Dave Bender
The aftermath of a Gaza rocket strike on Ashdod. Photo: Twitter.
Israel’s Security Cabinet on Tuesday morning voted to accept an Egyptian cease-fire initiative that commenced at 09:00 IST, according to a brief statement from the Prime Minister’s Office.
“The Security Cabinet, this morning (Tuesday, 15 July 2014), decided to accept the Egyptian proposal for a ceasefire starting at 09:00 today,” a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office read.
Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman and Economy Minister Naftali Bennett voted against the proposal.
Bennett called the bid “good for Hamas and bad for Israel… A cease-fire at the present time shows the government’s weakness,” according to a statement quoted by Ynet.
“A cease-fire now will create a bigger campaign against the south of the country and more rocket attacks in another year,” Bennett said.
Meanwhile, Hamas’ Izzadin al-Qassam “military wing” and Islamic Jihad have already publicly dismissed the bid on both television and radio, with the former calling it “surrender.”
U.S. Secretary of State, John Kerry has called off his planned visit to Cairo to help broker the agreement, according to Israel Radio.
