Cease-Fire in Gaza Conflict Takes Effect as Talks Are Set

A 72-hour humanitarian cease-fire in the Gaza conflict negotiated by the United States and the United Nations took effect Friday morning, a diplomatic bolt-from-the-blue that will suspend the bloody 24-day military campaign and set the stage for arduous negotiations between Israel and Hamas over a more lasting truce.

During this time, the forces on the ground will remain in place,” said the announcement, which means that Israeli troops can continue destroying the labyrinth of tunnels in Gaza that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said are the prime target of the operation.

Given the time it may take to organize the Cairo talks, American officials have already begun to float the possibility of extending the 72-hour truce to give the negotiations time to bear fruit, a senior State Department official said. But that has not yet been agreed.

It’s the package deal that Kerry has been working on for two weeks,” said Martin S. Indyk, who served until recently as special envoy for Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. “Both sides have accepted it and the follow-on negotiations, and both sides seem to prefer that to continuing the conflict. This one should hold.”

Israel was coming under mounting international pressure, especially after artillery shells slammed into a school filled with evacuees on Wednesday, killing at least 20 people. United Nations officials said its investigation showed that the shells had been fired by Israeli forces.

Mr. Earnest called the strike on the school “totally unacceptable and totally indefensible.”