Senior Israeli official pushes back on Hamas claims

A senior Israeli official has pushed back on a claim made by Hamas that it received “guarantees” that “Israeli aggression” would stop at al-Aqsa Mosque and in the East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah. The official said the claims were false, according to Barak Ravid, a contributing correspondent at the Axios news site. Earlier, a senior Hamas official told the Hezbollah-affiliated Al Mayadeen network that the Palestinian group had received “guarantees that Israeli aggression at Al-Aqsa Mosque and Sheikh Jarrah will stop”. Osama Hamdan did not elaborate on what those guarantees were or how they would be implemented.

In a related development, two Egyptian security delegations will be sent to monitor a ceasefire deal aimed at bringing an end to 11 days of deadly violence, diplomatic sources told AFP. The delegations will be sent to Tel Aviv and the Palestinian territories to “monitor (the ceasefire´s) implementation and procedures to maintain stable conditions permanently”.

The Egyptian-mediated “simultaneous and mutual ceasefire” is to come into force at 2300 GMT Thursday, the sources said, confirming announcements by Israel and Palestinian armed groups.