Initial agreement on humanitarian truce reached by Israel, Hamas: Report

Gaza: A media report stated that representatives of Israel and Hamas reached an initial agreement to establish a humanitarian cease-fire under international and Arab sponsorship.

The source, who requested to remain anonymous, told Xinhua news agency that the delegates have to report to senior authorities on both sides for approval and the agreement could be "implemented at any moment".

The source refused to talk about the details of the agreement, but said that "it will be implemented in stages".

He added that a humanitarian truce was expected to be announced soon, under which civilian hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip would be released in exchange for the release of women and children detained by Israel. 

With inputs from IANS