8 Palestinians killed ahead of Gaza truce

DOHA: A lasting truce must lead to the lifting by Israel of its blockade of the Gaza Strip, Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal told AFP in Doha. The 72-hour cease-fire Hamas reached with Israel on Sunday “is one of the ways or tactics to ensure successful negotiations or to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza,” said Meshaal. The final “goal we insist on is having the demands of Palestinians met and the Gaza Strip exist without a blockade.” “We insist on this goal. In the case of Israeli procrastination or continued aggression, Hamas is ready with other Palestinian factions to resist on ground and politically and... to face all possibilities,” he said. The remarks by Meshaal came as Israeli and Palestinian negotiators accepted an Egyptian proposal for a 72-hour cease-fire in Gaza from one minute past midnight local time (21:01 GMT). On the ground, local medics said on Sunday that eight Palestinians were killed, including a woman and two 17-year-olds, in a barrage of Israeli air strikes and 10 bodies were pulled from the rubble east of Gaza City. Throughout the day, Israeli warplanes hit 41 targets, including a factory in Gaza City used to make cleaning products close to the main hotel where foreign journalists are based. Arab News