Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilnai says Israel hopes the Gaza Strip ceasefire can be extended, despite the recent outbreak of violence in the Hamas-ruled territory. Vilnai said it looks like things are calming down.

An uneasy six-month truce between Israel and Palestinian militant factions in Gaza Strip led by Hamas came into force on Thursday amid widespread scepticism over how long the deal brokered by Egypt would hold.

Palestinian and Egyptian officials say Israel and the Islamic militant group Hamas have reached a cease-fire agreement that will go into effect in Gaza on Thursday. Israel would not confirm the deal, but said a negotiator was rushing to Cairo to finalize details. Robert Berger at the VOA bureau in Jerusalem.

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh says the militant group and Israel may be close to signing a truce in the Gaza Strip.

Jimmy Carter tells the Israeli Council on Foreign Relations that Hamas leaders have told him that they would accept a peace deal with Israel negotiated with Palestinian authority. Also Hamas lets Shalit, the captured Israeli soldier in Hamas custody, to send another letter home, saying that he is in good health.

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter traveled to the West Bank, where he met with a leading Hamas politician.

The reconciliation talks between Hamas and Fatah are moving to the next level, and will be presented during the Arab League summit in Syria on Saturday.

After a long weekend of discussions and crises between delegations from Hamas and Fatah, the two parties have signed the 'Sana Announcement, calling to resume their dialogue. Only few hours passed, however, before it was revealed that the agreement might be void of substance, due to internal conflicts within Fatah itself.

A senior leader for the Palestinian militant group Hamas is in Egypt to resume talks on the future of Egypt's border with the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas held a rare meeting on Friday with members of the Islamic group Hamas, four months after Hamas militants defeated his own forces and took over the Gaza Strip.

"Our administration in Gaza is temporary." We have said all the time that we are ready to discuss all the issues on the negotiating table Ahmed Yousef adviser to Ismail Haniya.

The European Commission has temporarily suspended the financing of fuel oil deliveries to the Gaza Strip over plans by Hamas to impose an electricity tax in the territory, a commission spokesman said Monday.