Egypt's Foreign Minister Mohammed Kamel Amr and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced that a ceasefire deal has been reached between Israel and Hamas. It went into effect at 9 p.m. local time (2 p.m. EST).
Here is the text of the agreement (via AFP):
"Israel shall stop all hostilities in the Gaza Strip land sea and air, including incursions and targeting of individuals.
"All Palestinian factions shall stop all hostilities from the Gaza Strip against Israel, including rocket attacks and all attacks along the border.
"Opening the crossings and facilitating the movement of people and transfer of goods and refraining from restricting residents' free movements and targeting residents in border areas. Procedures of implementation shall be dealt with after 24 hours from the start of the ceasefire.
"Egypt shall receive assurances from each party that the party commits to what was agreed upon.
"Each party shall commit itself not to perform any acts that would breach this understanding. In case of any observations, Egypt as a sponsor of this understanding, shall be informed to follow up."
Here's what Benjamin Netanyahu had to say:
PM Netanyahu: Israel can't sit idly by when the terror organizations are rearming themselves - we will cooperate with US on this issue
— Barak Ravid (@BarakRavid) November 21, 2012
PM Netanyahu: I know many people wanted a stronger military operation, but a durable cease fire is what's right for Israel at this timing
— Barak Ravid (@BarakRavid) November 21, 2012
Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak added that "all the goals of the operation were accomplished."
IDF Spokesperson Brig. Gen. Yoav Mordechai said that Operation Pillar of Defense is officially over and that reserve soldiers will begin to be released home.
Here's what Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal had to say:
Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal: The Israeli conspiracy has failed. They wanted an election propaganda and they wanted to test Egypt. #Gaza
— AJELive (@AJELive) November 21, 2012
Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal: Israel wanted to destroy the infrastructure of resistance. They always claim they have. This is a cheap claim
— AJELive (@AJELive) November 21, 2012
He added that "Israel failed with all its objectives."
Here's some instant analysis from Shadi Hamid, Director of Research at the Brookings Institution Doha Center:
So Hamas got: greater regional legitimacy, spike in popularity, end of assassinations, easing flow of goods into Gaza & a weaker PA to boot.
— Shadi Hamid (@shadihamid) November 21, 2012
Earlier Palestinian sources told Haaretz that a cease-fire would not be announced on Wednesday because Israel refused to include the lifting of the Gaza navl blockade as a term in the truce agreement. Israel won't lift the blockade, which was an original demand of Hamas.
More than 160 Palestinians have died and more than 1200 have been wounded while five Israelis have died and dozens have been wounded during the eight days of Israel's Operation Pillar of Cloud.
As Clinton said, "Now that there is a ceasefire deal in place..."
Celebratory gunfire across #Gaza City. Drones still humming. #Israel
— Abigail Hauslohner (@ahauslohner) November 21, 2012
SEE ALSO: Tel Aviv Bus Bombing Marks Two Bitter Enemies Joining Together Against Israel
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