CRI听力:Israel, Hamas Agree on "Humanitarian Ceasefire"

Both Hamas and Israel have agreed to a UN appeal for a five-hour humanitarian ceasefire today.

Hamas and other Palestinian factions have agreed to halt rocket launches into Israel for five hours this Thursday.

The Israeli military says the ceasefire will be enforced from 10 in the morning to 3 in the afternoon to give locals five hours to stock up on essentials.

Meantime, four children are among those who have been killed by the continued Israeli air strikes into Gaza on Wednesday.

Witnesses say the four children were killed while playing on a beach near Gaza City.

"Little kids, they were rummaging around for aluminum, plastic, metal scrap and wood. I had told them to go home but they didn't - then later they were struck by the first rocket, which came from the direction of the sea and they went flying. Another shell then struck them and they were dead; four cousins, nine-year-olds and 10-year-olds."

Palestinian officials say over 210 people have been killed and some 15-hundred others injured since the start of Operation Protective Edge last Tuesday.

The Israeli side has reported one death.

On the diplomatic front, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is set to meet with Egyptian President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, as well as Hamas officials, in Cairo.

China's Special Envoy for Middle East Affairs, Wu Sike, who is on a mediation trip to the region, is scheduled to hold talks with Israeli officials in Jerusalem later on this Thursday.