Russia hails Gaza ceasefire agreement

Russia is pleased that a ceasefire agreement has been reached in the Gaza Strip, the Foreign Ministry said Thursday. "We welcome the ceasefire in Gaza and highly value Egypt's peacekeeping efforts which considerably facilitated the successful talks," Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich told reporters. Lukashevich said Moscow urged both Israel and the Islamist Hamas movement to exercise restraint to prevent new confrontation around Gaza following the recent eight-day hostilities. "We believe it is necessary to proceed further to achieve stable and lasting settlement, which guarantees security of Israel and peaceful life of Gaza residents as a part of Palestinian territories, without any blockade and isolation," the spokesman said. Meanwhile, Lukashevich also said that Russia would continue to facilitate the peace process in the region both in bilateral contacts and multilateral formats, including the Middle East Quarter (the United States, the United Nations, the European Union and Russia). Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr announced Wednesday evening that the ceasefire between Israel and Gaza militant groups would take effect at 9 p.m. Cairo time (1900 GMT) on Wednesday. The ceasefire agreement stipulated that Israel stop all hostile ground, sea and air operations in Gaza, including invasions and operations targeting individuals. In addition, the ceasefire also stipulated that the Palestinian factions stop all hostile operations towards Israel, including rocket attacks and border area raids.