Israel and the Palestinians have agreed to another 72-hour ceasefire in Gaza, which took effect late Sunday night in the Middle East.  Israel is going another step and saying it will return its delegation to the peace talks in Cairo if the current ceasefire holds.

The fighting continued right up until the new agreement came into effect.  Hamas says if fired a missile that for the first time went as far as Tel Aviv.  The Israeli Defense Force (IDF) says a rocket exploded in an open area in the Tel Aviv metropolitan area, and the Iron Dome defense system shot down two more rockets well south of that region.  Israeli missiles had earlier targeted suspected Hamas positions in Gaza.

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is urging both sides to “avoid any steps which would lead to a return to violence”, which is the sort of thing that has scuttled previous truces.  Egypt’s Foreign Ministry wants “both sides to exploit this truce to resume indirect negotiations immediately and work towards a comprehensive and lasting ceasefire agreement”.

More than 1,900 people in Gaza have been killed in the past few weeks if fighting, and most of them were civilians.  Israel lost 67 people, including three civilians.