DHAKA: Twenty-five people have been killed just hours into a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, medics say, after Israel and Hamas agreed to a 72-hour pause in fighting.
There was an immediate lull in fighting as the truce began at 8am local time (05:00 GMT) on Friday. However, less than three hours later, medics reported deaths in the south of the Palestinian territory.
Five people were killed and more than a dozen wounded in Rafah as a result of Israeli tank shelling, they said.
There were also rocket alarms sounding in Israel's Eshkol region, signalling that rockets had been fired from Gaza.
Gunfire, reportedly from snipers, could be heard east of Gaza City.
Al Jazeera's Imtiaz Tyab, reporting from the eastern district of Shujayea district, said "a few minutes ago, about a kilometre from where I'm standing, there was a bang and we saw a large plume of smoke. We can only assume that it was either an Israeli air strike or a drone strike."
Before the beginning of the ceasefire, 14 people were killed in the Gaza Strip, according to medics. For its part, the Israeli army said five of its soldiers had died in mortar fire near the Gaza border.
Hopes of an end to the bloodshed had risen early on Friday after US Secretary of State John Kerry announced that Israel and Hamas had agreed to a joint UN-US ceasefire proposal. Both sides swiftly confirmed their commitment to the truce, after 25 days of bloody confrontation.
While the proposal was accepted by Hamas, a spokesman stressed it was dependent on Israel reciprocating.
"Hamas and all the resistance movements have accepted a 72-hour humanitarian ceasefire from 8:00am on Friday which will be respected by all these movements if the other party also observes the ceasefire," Fawzi Barhum was quoted as saying by the AFP news agency.
At least 1,464 Palestinians, most of them civilians, have been killed since Israel launched its offensive. Sixty-four Israeli soldiers have been killed, in addition to three civilians killed by rockets fired from Gaza.
Source: Al Jazeera
** Shaky ceasefire begins in Gaza Strip
BDST: 1537 HRS, AUG 01, 2014
