Israel and Hamas have agreed to observe a 12-hour humanitarian pause in the fighting in Gaza, beginning on Saturday morning, officials said Friday, July 25.

The 12-hour humanitarian pause, which international negotiators hope will be extended for another 12-24 hours, comes as US, UN, Arab, Turkish and European leaders continue intense diplomatic efforts to try to negotiate a seven-day truce, beginning with the Eid holiday Sunday evening marking the end of the holy Muslim month of Ramadan, Secretary of State John Kerry told journalists in Cairo Friday.

“I think we have made serious progress,” Kerry said, speaking at a Cairo press conference with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, head of the Arab League Nabil el-Araby and his Egytian counterpart, Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry.

“We have a basic outline that is approved by everybody,” Kerry said of a provisional seven-day cease-fire plan. “People believe that if the circumstances are right, a cease-fire makes sense, and people would like to see the violence end. But it has to be in ways that neither [party] feels their interests are compromised. And that is what we are working on.”