U.S. 'Strongly Supports' Gaza's Long-term Ceasefire

The United States gave full backing Tuesday to the announcement of a new long-term ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinians after 50 days of violence in and around Gaza.

"We strongly support the ceasefire announcement," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said, promising a statement from Secretary of State John Kerry later in the day.

The agreement came into effect at 1600 GMT and calls for an immediate halt to the violence in Gaza, which began on July 8 and has claimed the lives of 2,143 Palestinians and 69 on the Israeli side. 

This number includes an Israeli who was killed by a mortar round in the last hour before the fighting stopped. 

The Palestinians said it was a "permanent" truce, while a senior Israeli official described it as "unconditional and unlimited in time."

As the ceasefire took hold, thousands of Palestinians flooded on to the streets of Gaza City, some firing joyfully into the air, among them gunmen from Hamas, Agence France-Presse correspondents said.