250: hard won truce brings fresh hope

Good news from the Middle East today, as Hamas and the Israeli authorities agreed a ceasefire, with effect from Thursday at 6am local time. As today's linked article from Al Jazeera reports, the ceasefire agreement comes with associated conditions on both sides and is the outcome of a lengthy process of mediation by Egypt. The ceasefire aims to end Israeli raids into Palestinian territory as well as Palestinian attacks on Israeli civilians. Sure, such ceasefires have been agreed in the past. But this one has been hard fought. It remains to be seen whether Egypt will stay engaged to ensure conditions are met, but, if they are, then who knows? This ceasefire may yet prove a stepping stone towards more lasting peace. (Photo from Al Jazeera,)