Egypt has presented Israel with an improved proposal for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, Israeli officials confirmed on Friday evening.
Later, Arab media outlets reported that the Egyptian mediator presented a new proposal for calm in Gaza, which includes a temporary ceasefire, starting at midnight on Friday.
The proposal also reportedly includes a humanitarian pause in the fighting, allowing for the opening of the crossings into Gaza Strip and the entry of medical equipment into the Strip.
A spokesman for the Islamic Jihad told Al-Araby TV that an agreement has not yet been reached regarding a temporary ceasefire under the auspices of Egypt and talks are continuing.
As of 1:45 a.m. Saturday morning, there had been no confirmation on whether a ceasefire had indeed been agreed upon.
According to Channel 13 News, the Islamic Jihad has dropped its demand that Israel return the body of Khader Adnan, the terrorist who died in an Israeli prison after a lengthy hunger strike.
Israel, for its part, is demanding that the wording of the ceasefire be "silence shall be met with silence" and the Islamic Jihad wants some kind of Israeli statement on the cessation of targeted eliminations of the group’s top officials, but the feeling is that agreements can be reached, the report said.
Earlier on Friday, a senior member of the political bureau of the Islamic Jihad said it is “too early to talk about ceasefires.”
Overnight Thursday, Arab media reported that the Egyptians are optimistic about the possibility of reaching an agreement on a ceasefire.
The BBC’s Arabic-language service reported that the head of the Islamic Jihad delegation to Cairo, Mohammed el-Hindi, received a ceasefire proposal from Egyptian intelligence, and requested an extension in order to discuss it with the leadership of the organization.
(Israel National News' North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Israel National News articles, however, is Israeli time.)