“We have been informed by Egypt that a mutual and simultaneous ceasefire was reached in the Gaza Strip, starting on Friday at 2 am, 21 May 2012,” Hamas said.

“The Palestinian resistance to respect this ceasefire as long as the occupation is respecting it,” Hamas emphasized.

Late Thursday, the zionist regime’s security cabinet approved a mutual and simultaneous ceasefire.

The political security cabinet unanimously accepted the recommendation of all security officials, the chief of staff, the head of the ISA, the head of the Mossad, and the head of the IDF, to accept the Egyptian Initiative for a bilateral truce without any conditions, which will come into force as soon as it is agreed later,” a statement from Netanyahu’s office said.

Meanwhile, a Hamas official later confirmed that a ceasefire with the zionst occupation regime will enter into force at 2 a.m. on Friday.

“Israel failed to achieve any goals of its aggression, fled from battle with Palestinian resistance,” Hamas spokesman also told Anadolu Agency, a state-run news agency headquartered in Ankara, Turkey.

At least 232 Palestinian civilians have been killed since May 10 when the zionist occupation regime launched attacks on the Gaza Strip.

More than 4,000 civilians were wounded in the attacks, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.

During the 10-day aggression, the occupation warplanes bombed towers, residential buildings, citizens' homes, and government headquarters intensively.

And the bombing of houses on the heads of their inhabitants caused massacres in which entire families were killed.

The zionist regime’s bombing also caused massive damage to the infrastructure in the Strip. A number of municipalities condemned the occupation’s deliberate sabotage of the infrastructure, including roads, water, electricity, and sanitation networks. (ILKHA)