News desk :Israel’s foreign minister and Hamas have denied earlier reports of a truce deal to end fighting in Gaza between Israel and Palestinian militants.Israeli official Avigdor Lieberman said the reports were “as of now incorrect”, and Hamas, which controls Gaza, said talks in Egypt were ongoing.An Israeli official earlier told the BBC the truce was to take effect on Friday at 06:00 local time (03:00 GMT).Some 227 Palestinians and one Israeli have died in nine days of conflict.Israel launched its Operation Protective Edge with the stated objective of halting Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel.However, the United Nations says most of those killed in Gaza have been civilians.In an off-the-record briefing in some of Thursday morning’s overseas newspapers a senior Israeli military official is quoted as describing the likelihood of an Israeli ground operation in Gaza as “very high”. The military logic is clear, as it always has been.Israel’s air force is steadily working its way down a long target list. But there are other targets that could only be reached by ground forces – better-concealed long-range rockets are one example.Ground operations could mean anything from raids by units of Israel’s Special Forces to an all-out invasion and occupation. That would mean Israeli casualties too – perhaps a lot of them – and give Israel responsibility for running Gaza even as it hunted and fought militants.Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri told Agence France-Presse: “The news about a ceasefire is incorrect. There are continuing efforts but no agreement until now.” Lieberman told Israeli media: “The reports of a ceasefire are far from representing reality. I spoke with the prime minister, and as of now they are incorrect.”A spokesman for Islamic Jihad, which is also involved in the talks, told the BBC the discussions in Cairo were “ongoing and intensive” and that Hamas and Islamic Jihad had asked for amendments to the Egyptian initiative, which the mediators were dealing with “positively”.A five-hour truce took place on Thursday between 10:00 and 15:00 local time.It was requested by the UN and other international organisations to provide emergency relief and distribute water, food and hygiene kits.However, a few minutes after the temporary ceasefire ended, the Israel Defense Forces said.Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry says efforts will continue to try to broker a ceasefire.Witnesses in Gaza say Israel has also carried out its first air strike since the temporary truce ended – on agricultural land near Beit Lahiya.Gazans had tried to use the temporary truce to stock up on supplies. They queued outside banks and there were traffic jams.Fighting had continued until the truce came into effect on Thursday morning.Palestinian medics said three people were killed by Israeli tank fire which hit a house in Rafah minutes before the ceasefire began.State-run Hamas TV said the group’s military wing had fired the rocket at Ashkelon. Israel’s Channel 10 reported the Israeli military strike.At least three mortar shells fired from Gaza fell on Israeli territory during the cease-fire, and the Israeli military said a soldier was injured by an explosion during an “operational activity” near southern Gaza. Troops responded with mortar fire, the Israel Defense Forces said.Despite those incidents, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said both sides had “mostly respected” the cease-fire.”The pause shows that a cessation of hostilities is possible if all the parties demonstrate the necessary will and put the interests of civilians, who have borne the brunt of this escalation, first,” Ban said in a statement.In Cairo, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Arab League Secretary-General Nabil Al-Arabi held talks Thursday aimed at reaching a cease-fire agreement.An Israeli delegation also attended, leaving the city after several hours, the state-run al-Ahram news agency reported.”I expect that we will reach an agreement very soon; the efforts of a cease-fire is to stop the bloodshed, killing and destruction in Gaza,” said Nabil Shaath, an Abbas adviser and member of the central committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization.He said negotiatiors were focusing on stopping bloodshed above all else. He said they would later discuss Hamas demands, including opening Gaza border crossings and freeing prisoners whose freedom was negotiated in exchange for the release of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.”These are all legitimate demands by Hamas, but the priority is for an immediate cease-fire,” Shaath said.Hamas leaders had rejected an earlier Egyptian cease-fire proposal, saying they had not been consulted on the deal and complaining that it did not address their broader demands.Hamas officials said Wednesday they would not participate in the Cairo talks, but PLO official Saeb Erakat, who is in the Egyptian capital with Abbas, said the Palestinian Authority leader had met with representatives of Hamas and Islamic Jihad.Erakat said negotiators are trying to extend the UN-sponsored temporary humanitarian cease-fire on a “rolling basis.”
