Israel-Hamas ceasefire could come soon as US envoy arrives: report

An agreement to halt the worst fighting between Israel and Hamas in more than six years could come within days, The Times of Israel reported Friday, citing an unidentified diplomat.

The diplomat suggested that the heavy bombardment of the Gaza Strip by Israeli forces Thursday and Friday indicated that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government would soon be ready to call a halt, after destroying as much of the military infrastructure of Hamas and other Islamic terror groups as possible. The timeline for when an agreement could be reached was not clear. An Egyptian intelligence official told the Associated Press that Israel had turned down a proposal by Cairo for a one-year ceasefire, which the official said Hamas had accepted.