CAIRO/OCCUPIED JERUSALEM: Israel has announced a unilateral 12-hour ceasefire in Gaza starting on Saturday morning, a US official said.

“Israel has agreed to a 12-hour ceasefire from 07:00 am Saturday,” said the US official travelling with Secretary of State John Kerry, who was leaving Cairo without securing a longer ceasefire deal between Israel and Palestinian movement Hamas.

It was unclear whether the ceasefire was due to start at 7:00 am Israeli time or GMT.

Earlier, Israel rejected a ceasefire proposal by top US diplomat John Kerry on Friday, media reported, dashing hopes for a quick end to a Gaza conflict that has killed almost 850 Palestinians.

International efforts for a humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza ramped up earlier, as tensions also erupted in the West Bank where five Palestinians were killed by Israeli gunfire.

Israel’s Channel 1 reported late Friday, ahead of a scheduled announcement by Kerry, that the security cabinet of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had “unanimously rejected” a truce proposal by the US Secretary of State.

Kerry, who has been leading international efforts to reach a truce, said at a press conference in Cairo with UN chief Ban Ki-moon that both sides “still have some terminology” to agree to on a ceasefire, but added they had “fundamental framework” on a truce.

The United States has worked with Egypt on a plan that, diplomats say, would provide a humanitarian pause in the deadly Israel-Hamas conflict ahead of talks on key issues.—AFP