By Nidal al-Mughrabi, Lin Noueihed and Dan Williams GAZA/CAIRO/JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israel and Hamas-led Palestinian guerrillas entered a 72-hour truce on Tuesday mediated by Egypt with a view to encouraging negotiations on a more enduring end to the month-old Gaza war. Minutes before the ceasefire took hold at 8 a.m. (0100 EDT), Hamas launched a salvo of long-range rockets, calling them revenge for Israel's "massacres". Israeli ground forces withdrew from the Gaza Strip ahead of the truce, with a military spokesman saying their main goal of destroying cross-border infiltration tunnels had been completed. Troops and tanks would be "redeployed in defensive positions outside the Gaza Strip and we will maintain those defensive positions," spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Peter Lerner said, reflecting Israeli readiness to resume fighting if attacked.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/israel-palestinians-accept-egypts-72-hour-truce-bid-011340591.html