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Itongadol.- Rockets and mortar shells fired from within the Gaza Strip continued to batter Israel\’s south on Friday, hours after the BBC reported that an Egypt-mediated ceasefire between Israel and the Hamas was to be announced shortly.
Meanwhile, Jerusalem police prepare for Friday\’s Muslim prayers at the Temple Mount, the first such gathering since the discovery of the body of the abducted Palestinian teen earlier this week. In addition to securing the Temple Mount with a large force, the police will also bar entry to the area to all men under the age of 50 and restrict it to those carrying Israeli IDs. Women will be allowed free access.
Muhammed Abu-Khdeir, the 16-year-old Palestinian who was found early Tuesday in a West Jerusalem forest, is to be buried in Jerusalem\’s Arab neighborhood of Shoafat on Friday afternoon after prayers.
The suspicion that Abu-Khdeir was killed by Israeli extremists in a revenge attack for the murder of the three Jewish teens has been a major cause of the violence in Jerusalem over the past two days.
On Thursday, the Israel Defense Forces mobilized troops to southern Israel and called up reservists, after several barrages of rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip, several of them striking houses in Sderot.
Latest updates:
1:02 P.M. Dozens of young Palestinian men attempting to break through police\’s blockade of Jerusalem Old City are pushed back with crowd-control measures.
Police and stone-throwers clashed in the nearby neighborhood of Ras al-Amud, meanwhile. (Nir Hasson)
12:35 P.M. Teenager lightly injured when rock-throwers attack bus traveling through Wadi Ara (Eli Ashkenazi)
12:01 P.M. Two mortar shells strike in Eshkol Regional Council. No injuries reorted, and no damage incurred. (Shirley Seidler)
11:53 A.M. Gush Etzion Council announces establishment of two new settlements "of significant character," says eight caravans have been set up near Tekoa and Bat Ayin, and that the council plans to set up new settlement of hundreds of housing units in near future. (Haaretz)
11:16 A.M. Israel\’s security establishment has of yet issued no response to reports on a forthcoming ceasefire with Hamas, but an official has said any such decision hinges on a complete stop to rockets being fired from within the Strip. If Hamas stops firing towards Israeli territory, the source said, Israel will cease its jet strikes in the Strip. He added that Israel passed a "very clear" message to Hamas that "quiet will be met with quiet," and said that at this time, "the ball rests in Hamas\’ court. If they accept a unilateral ceasefire, quiet will resume." (Jack Khouri)
9:12 A.M. An Egyptian-mediated ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas is to be announced shortly, the BBC reports, citing a Hamas source.
The source said "intensive contacts" between Hamas and Egyptian officials "succeeded in reaching a new truce between Hamas and Israel, and that the ceasefire agreement was to be announced within hours," according to the BBC. (Haaretz)
06:02 A.M. Sirens sound in Sderot, the Eshkol region, Sdot Negev and Shaar Hanegev Regional Council. No reports of rockets landing.
23:40 P.M. Rocket falls close to a village in the Shaar Hanegev regional council. No injuries reported. (Shirley Siedler)
10:41 P.M. East Jerusalem riots spread to neighbourhoods of Silwan and Issawiya. Large police contingents sent to areas.
Palestinians claim a 7-year-old boy from Beit Hanina was the target of another, failed kidnapping attempt.
Fires blazing in open areas near the Damascus Gate and Hadassah Medical Center, apparently due to hurling of firebombs. (Nir Hasson)
10:02 P.M. Home Front Command cancels order issued earlier to Israelis residing near Gaza to stay inside shelters, but asks civilians to stay near bomb-proof structures.