Israel-Gaza 72-hour ceasefire broken within 72 minutes

Officials in Gaza said at least four Palestinians were killed by Israeli tank fire two hours after the ceasefire began.

16:38 01 August 2014

Both Hamas and Israel tentatively agreed to a humanitarian ceasefire at the end of the week. However, just two hours after it began, officials in Gaza said Israeli tank fire killed at least four Palestinians.

Health Ministry official Ashraf al-Kidra and Gaza spokesman Ayman Batniji added that there were other 15 people who were wounded in the shelling east of the southern Gaza city of Rafah. 

However, the office of the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Hamas of breaking the truce. "Once again, Hamas and the terror organisations in Gaza have blatantly broken the cease-fire to which they committed, this time before the American Secretary of State and the UN Secretary General."

Both Hamas and Israel agreed to respect the ceasefire which was supposed to take effect from 6am BST.

The US Secretary of State John Kerry said that the ceasefire was crucial to giving innocent civilians a much-needed reprieve from violence.

On Friday, Palestinian and Israeli delegations in Cairo planned to discuss “durable ceasefire” with the Egyptian government.

Hamas is fighting to remove the blockade of Gaza by both Israel and Egypt.