Egypt is pressing for a 72-hour Gaza ceasefire to be held Tuesday, Palestinian officials said, just hours after Hamas accused Israel of trying to scuttle Cairo truce talks.Palestinian delegates in Cairo, including members of Hamas and president Mahmud Abbas's Palestinian Authority, on Sunday agreed joint demands for a planned truce with Israel, including an end to the Gaza blockade.
"Egypt is leading international efforts for a 72-hour humanitarian truce and a mutual ceasefire starting 8:00 am (0500 GMT) tomorrow," one of them said Monday, adding that all Palestinian factions had accepted the proposal.
Another delegate, Islamic Jihad representative Ziad El-Nakhale, told Palestinian radio: "Maybe in the next few hours we will announce a ceasefire."
Egypt, a traditional broker in Hamas-Israeli conflicts, had proposed last month soon after the latest conflict erupted an unconditional ceasefire followed by talks between the two sides.
Israel accepted that plan but Hamas rejected it, accusing Cairo of bypassing the Palestinian movement.
Last week Cairo invited the two sides again to send their delegations for talks to work on a durable, long-term ceasefire.
But Israel refused to send its negotiators, accusing Hamas of breaching a UN-backed 72-hour humanitarian truce that began on Friday but collapsed within hours.
Hamas on Monday accused Israel of breaching that truce and of trying to scuttle the Cairo talks.
"The Israeli side is trying to foil the meeting in Cairo by violating the (72-hour) truce," said Ezzat al-Rishq, a senior Hamas official in the Palestinian delegation.
