A 72 hours ceasefire begins; U.N Secretary-General urges all parties to commence talks

A 72 hours ceasefire on humanitarian grounds was announced yesterday between Israel and Gaza. This ceasefire is completely crucial at this stage, after huge devastation particularly in Gaza. Relief work can be carried out with greater frequencies in the affected areas now and people can actually get ample amount of time to come back to terms. Ever since this war has    broken down, so many of them have died and several others have been left injured. Spectralhues has reported completely on this conflict and our earlier reports contain the details and statistics of numbers of deaths and injured. The ceasefire began at 8:00 am in the morning and continued further.

The Israel Defence Force informed through a tweet that minutes before the ceasefire of 8:00 am today, Hamas fired 17 rockets at Israel out of which 6 were intercepted. As this ceasefire began, United Nations Secretary-General Ban ki-Moon urged all parties to commence talks in Cairo for a durable peace.

In a statement issued by his spokesperson, Mr. Bam ki-Moon said, “The Secretary-General welcomes the efforts leading to a new ceasefire as announced today.  He commends the parties for committing to this ceasefire of 72 hours, to begin Tuesday, 5 August, at 8 a.m. local time, and calls on them to abide by it.  Until the start of the ceasefire, the parties must exercise the utmost restraint. The Secretary-General urges the parties to commence, as soon as possible, talks in Cairo on a durable ceasefire and the underlying issues. In this regard, he welcomes the proactive engagement of the Palestinian delegation under the leadership of President Abbas.  Such talks are the only way to sustainably stop the violence, which has cost far too many lives, and to change the untenable and tragic status quo in Gaza.  The United Nations stands ready to lend its full support to these efforts.”

Tweeting Mission Accomplished IDF asserted that they have destroyed Hamas tunnels leading from Gaza into Israel. According to them now the whole of Israel is safer. The IDF targeted many of those sites where in Shuja’iya that Hamas used for military purposes.

Israel Defence Force Spokesperson LTC Peter Lerner tweeted that after the destruction of 32 tunnels from 0800 the #IDF will implement a 72 hour ceasefire, from defensive lives, outside of #Gaza.

Earlier, a 72 hours ceasefire put forth by the U.N and the USA was violated, escalating the conflict even further. But this time, the ceasefire has been accepted by the both and is continuing in peace.

In meantime, some important and beneficial decision needs to be taken. Peace and Harmony is essential, at the moment in Israel as well as Gaza, as people there have badly suffered in this terrible phase. This conflict has actually subjected people there to brutality.

Reports came in the morning that Sayeeda Warsi, Senior Minister of State& Minister for Faith & Communities of the United Kingdom resigned from her post as she was upset by the government’s policy on Gaza. She tweeted, “With deep regret I have this morning written to the Prime Minister & tendered my resignation. I can no longer support Govt policy on #Gaza.”

The IDF blog reported that IDF forces in the Gaza Strip found a Hamas manual on “Urban Warfare,” which belonged to the Shuja’iya Brigade of Hamas’ military wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades. The manual explains how the civilian population can be used against IDF forces and reveals that Hamas knows the IDF is committed to minimizing harm to civilians.

• About the Author

About Suyash Karangutkar

Suyash Karangutkar is a young, dedicated and an enthusiastic journalist who has a deep interest in National and International Affairs. He is an ardent political spectator who finds politics fascinating. At Spectralhues, he heads the Mumbai team and covers National Affairs & Politics. He also occasionally writes columns for Spectralhues. He can be followed on Twitter @columnistsuyash