Israel, Hamas extend cease-fire five days

JERUSALEM - Israel and Hamas agreed late Wednesday to a five-day extension of a cease-fire to allow further talks on a longer-lasting truce in Gaza, but renewed Palestinian rocket fire triggered fresh Israeli air strikes, threatening the lull.

The agreement, reached under heavy pressure from Egyptian mediators, was announced in Cairo minutes before the expiration of a 72-hour cease-fire at midnight.

"In the last minutes, agreement was reached to extend the cease-fire for another five days . . . ending on Monday," said Azzam al-Ahmad, the head of a delegation of Palestinian factions negotiating indirectly with an Israeli team.

The Israeli military said that six rockets were fired at Israel from Gaza before midnight and that in response it had carried out air strikes "targeting terror sites across the Gaza Strip."

Extremists in Gaza fired back, and two more rockets landed in southern Israel, the army said. No casualties were reported.

In the hours before the agreement to extend the cease-fire, President Obama spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as part of efforts to prod both sides toward an accord.

"The president reaffirmed the United States' support for Egypt's mediation efforts and underscored the importance of achieving a sustainable outcome that ensures Israel's security and addresses Gaza's humanitarian crisis," the White House said.

Ahmad, a representative of the mainstream Fatah faction, said progress had been made in negotiations on Hamas' main demand: lifting a blockade imposed on the Gaza Strip by Israel and Egypt.

However, Izzat al-Risheq, a Hamas negotiator, told the Arabic satellite channel Al-Jazeera that significant gaps remained and that delegates from the group would travel to Qatar for consultations with the political leader of Hamas, Khaled Mashal.

Also Wednesday, leaders of major Jewish groups accused U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon of being one-sided in his handling of the crisis in Gaza.

A delegation of 11 Jewish organizations met with the U.N. chief to express their concerns, presenting a letter that listed what they said were 19 violations of international law by Hamas that have gone ignored, said Rabbi Marvin Hier, founder and dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center.

Chief among their demands was a need for the U.N. to investigate rocket attacks by Hamas and Hamas' use of U.N. schools. Rockets have been found in three empty U.N. schools during the conflict.

U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said: "The secretary-general reiterated that he fully understands Israel's legitimate security concerns but also stressed the need to show restraint in their actions in Gaza so as to avoid civilian casualties."