Israel, Hamas accept Egyptian cease-fire plan

By Josef Federman

Published August 5, 2014 3:00am ET

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Israel, Hamas accept Egyptian cease-fire plan — An ultra-Orthodox Jewish man carries the body of Avrohom Wallis during his funeral in Jerusalem, Monday, Aug. 4, 2014. An assault carried out with a construction vehicle served as another reminder of the tense climate. Israeli TV stations broadcast a series of amateur videos of the attack, in which a Palestinian man used the front shovel of a construction excavator to ram a bus and tip it over. Police said a man who worked at the site was run over and killed by the construction vehicle. He was identified as a 29-year-old religious inspector whose job was to ensure that ancient graves were not damaged by construction work. A policeman who happened to be in the area shot the driver, who was identified as a resident of a Palestinian neighborhood in east Jerusalem. The man's uncle, Hisham Jaabis, said the incident was a traffic accident and that his nephew had been gunned down in cold blood while trying to dodge the bus. "All of them started shooting at him," he said. In the past, Palestinian attackers have gone on deadly rampages with bulldozers in Jerusalem traffic. (AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner) | Sebastian Scheiner

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel and Hamas on Monday accepted an Egyptian cease-fire proposal meant to halt a bruising monthlong war that has claimed nearly 2,000 lives, raising hopes that the bloodiest round of fighting between the bitter enemies could finally be coming to an end.

Still, both sides signaled a rough road ahead, with an Israeli official expressing skepticism given previous failures, and a Palestinian negotiator saying “it’s going to be tough.”

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Gaza Hamas Israel Middle East Palestinians World