generalspeaking

Israel will send a senior official on its behalf to Cairo to sign a ceasefire, the Hizbullah-affiliated channel Al-Mayadeen reported Saturday. According to Palestinian sources, the ceasefire will start Saturday at midnight.

Israel has denied the reports and is continuing to mass troops near Gaza and striking terrorist enclaves, smuggling tunnels and rocket launching sites.

Egypt's President Mohamed Morsi said on Saturday his government was in touch with both Israelis and Palestinians and there were indications they could "soon" reach a truce, but there were no guarantees.

"There are some indications that there could be a ceasefire soon," Morsi said at a joint news conference with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, adding that there were still "no guarantees."

He said his country's government was in "vigorous" communication with both the Palestinians and Israel. Israeli officials confirmed that both Morsi and Erdogan are meeting with Hamas to promote a ceasefire.

A senior Hamas official had earlier told AFP his organization was reluctant to agree a truce because it doubted the terms of the ceasefire could be guaranteed. Hamas, on television, announced a list of its ceasefire demands, none of which included a cessation of the constant rocket-fire on Israeli civilians that led to the Pillar of Defense Operation.