Kamel thanked all parties involved in brokering the truce as he made the announcement at a joint news conference with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

"Israel has accepted the deal," according to a statement released from the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Under the ceasefire terms, Israel is to stop all aggression against the Gaza Strip from land, sea and air, including cross-border incursions and targeted killings.

Palestinian factions are to cease all aggression from Gaza towards Israel, including rocket fire and attacks on the border, Al-Jazeera reported.

Twenty-four hours after the ceasefire takes effect, Israel would also be committed to opening of all border crossings and ease restrictions on the movement of people and goods in and out of the enclave, it said.

For the truce to hold, "the rocket attacks (from Gaza) must end and a broader calm must return," Clinton said.

Israel launched its current offensive a week ago with the killing of Hamas military leader Ahmed Jabari. "The United States welcomes the agreement today for a ceasefire. In the days ahead, the US will work with partners in the region to consolidate this progress," Clinton said.

Earlier, Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip continued for an eighth day today as diplomatic efforts were underway to secure a ceasefire.

At least 12 persons were killed in Gaza today, according to medical officials, bringing the death toll to a total of 150 since Israel's military operation was launched.

Israel said it struck more than 100 targets, including a cluster of Hamas government buildings.

Clinton and UN chief Ban Ki-moon, who met Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi, have been shuttling between Egypt, Israel and the occupied West Bank in a bid to bolster a proposed ceasefire agreement that Cairo brokered between Israel and the Hamas.

Netanyahu consulted US President Barack Obama before agreeing to the ceasefire. Obama called on Netanyahu and commended him for agreeing to the Egyptian proposal for a ceasefire with Hamas.

"The President expressed his appreciation for the Prime Minister's efforts to work with the new Egyptian government to achieve a sustainable ceasefire and a more durable solution to the problem," the White House said in a statement in Washington after the telephone call between the two leaders.

Obama also called Egyptian President after the two sides agreed to end the bloodshed in the Gaza strip. He commended Mursi for his effort on negotiating a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

Earlier, India, Brazil and South Africa had strongly condemned the ongoing violence between Israel and Palestine, stressing that the crisis can only be resolved through diplomacy and dialogue.

The IBSA nations urged the parties to immediately cease all violence and exercise maximum restraint. — PTI

The first blast in Karachi occurred when a suicide bomber's explosives detonated when his motorcycle collided with an auto-rickshaw a short distance from the main gate of the imambargah in Karachi this evening.

About an hour later, an improvised explosive device planted near the imambargah was triggered by remote control as rescue workers and members of a bomb disposal were clearing the site of the first blast.

SSP Raja Umar Khattab said the police believed the first explosion was caused by a suicide attacker who was riding a motorcycle. Besides the suicide attacker, the driver of the auto-rickshaw was killed by the first blast.

Meanwhile, seven persons, including a woman, were killed and 20 others injured when a vehicle of the security forces was today targeted with a roadside bomb in Quetta city of south west Pakistan, police said. — PTI

BRIEFLY

Wisconsin gurdwara shooter Page acted alone, says FBI
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Benghazi security chief assassinated
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UN report warns of widening climate gap
Stockholm: A UN report on rising greenhouse gas emissions reminded world governments on Wednesday that their efforts to fight climate change are far from enough to meet their stated goal of limiting global warming to 2 degrees Celsius. The report by the UN Environment Program, released just days ahead of a major climate conference, said the concentration of heat-trapping greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is up about 20 per cent since 2000. — PTI