The United Nations and United States have announced that Israel and Hamas have agreed to a 72-hour ceasefire to begin on Friday.  Representatives from both sides were reportedly on their way to Cairo to spend that time on negotiations on extending the truce.

This is the longest cease-fire that both sides have agreed to since Israel commenced “Operations Protective Edge” more than three weeks ago.  It’s not clear whether each side can resist the temptation to start fighting again.  Previous cease-fires have been for shorter periods and were frequently violated.  The announcement came after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to destroy the tunnel network used by Hamas to smuggle goods in and out of Gaza, as well as to stage attacks in Israel. 

Gaza officials say 34 Palestinians were killed in Israeli assaults on Thursday, pushing the death toll past 1,400.  Israel says 56 troops have been killed, along with two civilians and a Thai national.