JERUSALEM: Israel and Palestinians in Gaza were holding their fire Thursday after a new truce got off to a shaky start with overnight Palestinian rocket fire followed by Israeli airstrikes.

Late on Wednesday, negotiators in Cairo brokered an 11th-hour extension to an existing truce, with the warring sides agreeing to lower their guns for another five days to allow for continued negotiations over a long-term cease-fire.

But even beforehand, a rocket struck southern Israel with another hitting in the following hours, the army said, without specifying whether they were fired before or after the new truce came into effect at midnight local time.

Israeli warplanes hit back with four airstrikes, Palestinian security officials said, saying the skies fell silent at around 3:00 a.m.

“An agreement to extend the cease-fire for five days has been accepted by both sides to allow more time for negotiations,” an Egyptian foreign ministry statement said.

Chief Palestinian negotiator Azzam Al-Ahmed said the delegations had reached “agreement on many points” over lifting Israel’s eight-year blockade on Gaza, although they needed more time to settle a number of remaining disputes.

Israel also confirmed its acceptance of the Egyptian proposal.

On the ground, there was great uncertainty among both peoples about the latest extension.

“It’s very, very difficult not to be at home, enough!” said Michal Admoni, an Israeli who has been living away from her home in kibbutz Kfar Aza for more than a month.

Just a few kilometers across the border, in Gaza’s battered Shejaiya neighborhood, Mohamed Ibrahim Aateysh was brewing sweet mint tea inside his destroyed home with his family.

“The cease-fire is nonsense. We want stability in the country,” he said wearily.

Since the conflict began on July 8, 1,962 Palestinians and 67 on the Israeli side have been killed.

If observed, the latest truce should herald potentially the longest period of calm in the five-week conflict and allow more time for talks on the thorniest issues separating the two sides.

An earlier truce collapsed in a firestorm of violence on Aug. 8.

As the deadline approached, dozens of Israeli tanks and armored personnel carriers approached the Gaza border, raising fears the violence could resume.

“We have already sacrificed 64 men and it is possible we may have to sacrifice more,” chief of staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz said at a military ceremony.

In Cairo, Egyptian mediators proposed that talks on a seaport and airport in Gaza be delayed until a month after a permanent cease-fire takes effect, according to documents seen by AFP.

Negotiations over the exchange of the remains of two dead Israeli soldiers for the release of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel would also be postponed.

An Israeli-imposed buffer zone inside the Gaza border would be gradually reduced, and eventually policed by forces under Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas.

Israel has said it will facilitate Gaza’s reconstruction only if the enclave is fully disarmed, a demand rejected by the Palestinians.