(nat)<br/> <br />Celebrations late into the night on the streets of Gaza..as news of an Egypt-brokered ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinians began to spread..<br/> <br />(nat)<br/> <br />The announcement came from Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas.<br/> <br />(SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) PALESTINIAN PRESIDENT MAHMOUD ABBAS, SAYING:<br/> <br />"I would like to announce the agreement of the Palestinian leadership to the invitation by our brotherly Egypt to a comprehensive and permanent ceasefire starting at 19:00 tonight local Cairo and Palestine time."<br/> <br />For war-weary Palestinians in Gaza, it couldn't have come soon enough.<br/> <br />For the past seven weeks Israel has bombarded Gaza in a military offensive aimed at stemming a stream of rocket fire from Hamas into its territory.<br/> <br />More than 2,000 Palestinians, mostly civilians, have died as a result of airstrikes aimed at Hamas targets.<br/> <br />But Israeli Spokesman Mark Regev says the death toll is the responsibility of Hamas.<br/> <br />(SOUNDBITE) (English) I
