A Hamas official told AFP on Saturday that the Islamist militant group would observe a 12-hour Gaza ceasefire starting later in the morning.

"There is national consensus on a humanitarian truce... for 12 hours on Saturday, from 8:00 am to 8:00 pm, (0500 to 1700 GMT)," Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zukhri told AFP.

A US official said late Friday that Israel had decided on a unilateral 12-hour Gaza ceasefire from 7:00 am Saturday morning.

There has been no official Israeli comment but Haaretz newspaper quoted an unnamed senior Israeli official as confirming a 7:00 am Israeli ceasefire

Source: ANTARA