--- description: The unconditional cease-fire will allow both sides to negotiate title: Israel, Hamas Agree to 72-Hour Cease-Fire in Gaza, U.S. and U.N. Say image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfb5a62af7583b440/69869e15adae448962544614/mideast-israel-palest_dock-2.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Middle East](/tag/middle-east/) ## Middle East Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # 72-Hour Cease-Fire Announced in Gaza  by [Eliana Dockterman](/author/eliana-dockterman/)  ## Eliana Dockterman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Correspondent Jul 31, 2014 10:09 PM CUT  Amidst the morning fog, smoke from an Israeli strike rises over Gaza City on July 26, 2014 Amidst the morning fog, smoke from an Israeli strike rises over Gaza City on July 26, 2014Lefteris Pitarakis—AP  by [Eliana Dockterman](/author/eliana-dockterman/)  ## Eliana Dockterman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Correspondent Jul 31, 2014 10:09 PM CUT The U.S. and U.N. announced Thursday that Israel and Hamas have agreed to a 72-hour humanitarian cease-fire, which will begin Friday morning at 8 a.m. local time. The U.S. and U.N. said in a joint statement that both sides have agreed to suspend fighting in Gaza while they engaged in negotiations in Cairo. “During this time the forces on the ground will remain in place,” said the announcement released jointly by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. Israeli troops that have entered Gaza will remain there. “This cease-fire is critical to giving innocent civilians a much-needed reprieve from violence,” the statement reads. “During this period, civilians in Gaza will receive urgently needed humanitarian relief, and the opportunity to carry out vital functions, including burying the dead, taking care of the injured, and restocking food supplies. Overdue repairs on essential water and energy infrastructure could also continue during this period.” More than 1,400 Palestinians and dozens of Israelis have died since the strikes began earlier this month. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3067313/israel-hamas-72-hour-ceasefire-gaza/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3067313/israel-hamas-72-hour-ceasefire-gaza/"},"headline":"72-Hour Cease-Fire Announced in Gaza","datePublished":"2014-07-31T22:09:14.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T09:27:23.196Z","description":"The unconditional cease-fire will allow both sides to negotiate while victims are buried and the injured receive aid","url":"https://time.com/3067313/israel-hamas-72-hour-ceasefire-gaza/","keywords":["Middle East"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfb5a62af7583b440/69869e15adae448962544614/mideast-israel-palest_dock-2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Eliana Dockterman","jobTitle":"Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfb5a62af7583b440/69869e15adae448962544614/mideast-israel-palest_dock-2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Mideast Israel Palestinians","caption":"Mideast Israel Palestinians","creditText":"Lefteris Pitarakis—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/middle-east/","name":"Middle East"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3067313/israel-hamas-72-hour-ceasefire-gaza/","name":"72-Hour Cease-Fire Announced in Gaza"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"From Ceasefire to Ground Invasion: One Day In the Life of Israel and Gaza Residents","description":"TIME asked residents of Gaza and Israel to chronicle their lives on Thursday - the day Israel's forces started a ground invasion of the Palestinian territory.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/nxtmNoqL/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2014-07-18T21:39:43.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/nxtmNoqL.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3067313/israel-hamas-72-hour-ceasefire-gaza/","duration":"PT3M59S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3067313/israel-hamas-72-hour-ceasefire-gaza/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```