By Isabel Kershner Taghreed El-Khodary contributed reporting from Gaza. * The prime minister and defense minister of Israel have agreed to an Egyptian-brokered cease-fire with Hamas for the Gaza area starting Thursday morning, Israel Radio reported Wednesday.

By JOSEF FEDERMAN, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS JERUSALEM The Gaza Strip's ruling Hamas militant group said Tuesday that it has reached a cease-fire with Israel meant to halt a cycle of deadly Palestinian rocket attacks that rained hundreds of rockets on Israel in the past year and Israeli reprisals that have killed hundreds of Palestinians.

JERUSALEM _ Sunrise on Thursday could bring a rare, new calm to Israel's volatile border with the Gaza Strip. After months of Egyptian-mediated negotiations, Israeli and Hamas leaders in the Gaza Strip have agreed to a phased-in, six-month cease-fire that's set to begin at 6 a.m.

Hamas leaders leave to Cairo for final ceasefire discussions GAZA, May 19 (Xinhua) -- A delegation from the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) left the Gaza Strip Monday morning, heading for Egypt to hear Israel's response regarding a Cairo- mediated ceasefire.

By Steven Erlanger France confirmed Monday that it has had contacts with the leaders of Hamas for several months to try to better understand the positions of the radical Islamic group that is running Gaza.