TEL AVIV, August 07. /ITAR-TASS/. Hamas and Israel talks in Cairo have so far failed to prolong the 72-hour truce announced on August 5. The first two days of ceasefire saw no violations on any of the sides.

According to the Palestinian news agency Maan, indirect negotiations go on but the progress is difficult. Resistance movements still had no answer to their requirements from the occupants, one of Hamas leaders Ismail Radwan told the Palestinian media.

Proxies of Hamas armed wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades made it clear their militants were still on the border and considered this truce temporary.

By the start of truce on Tuesday, the Israeli army had withdrawn all ground elements from the Gaza Strip but the troops remained near the border, said the army’s press office. The mission was accomplished as the army had destroyed Hamas tunnels leading to Israel thus making Israeli territory safer, the press office added. Destruction of these tunnels was the aim of the ground phase of Operation Protective Edge (Solid Rock in Hebrew).

The 29-day operation hit 4,800 targets and eliminated 32 tunnels in the Gaza Strip, an army command proxy told ITAR-TASS. The operation that started on July 8 killed more than1,800 Palestinians and injured 9,000. The battle killed 64 Israeli soldiers and officers. Three Israeli civilians lost their lives as a result of rocket attacks.