Israel and Hamas have agreed a truce in the Gaza Strip, according to Egyptian officials who have mediated between the two sides for months.

Neither Hamas nor Israeli officials would confirm details of the accord, which was still being cemented as the Israeli air force launched a deadly attack on the Gaza Strip and Palestinian mortars were fired at a town in southern Israel today.

Mark Regev, the Israeli government spokesman, said: “Israel took a decision last week to support the Egyptian track. Actions are needed more than words. If there is an end to the terrorist attacks from Gaza onto Israel, if there is an end to the Hamas arms buildup in Gaza Strip, and if there is movement on the hostage Gilad Schalit — that will indeed be a new reality.”

Fawzi Barhum, a Hamas spokesman, said that Hamas would adhere to any “zero hour” truce set by the Egyptians, but would reserve the right to respond to any Israeli aggression. “The discussions in Cairo have not been concluded but they are positive. We are close to announcing agreement on a truce,” he said.

Egypt has hosted indirect talks between Israel and Hamas for months in a bid to secure a ceasefire and lift a year-old Israeli blockade of the aid-dependent territory controlled by the Islamists.

The truce will go into effect at 6am local time on Thursday, according to Hossam Zaki, an Egyptian Foreign Ministry spokesman, and is meant to last for six months. In the first stage of the truce, Israel would lift their months-long blockade of Gaza, allowing raw materials to enter. The opening of Gaza’s main gateway, the Rafah crossing with Egypt, would only occur at a later stage, and would hinge on Hamas’s release of Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier seized by Palestinian militants in a cross-border raid in 2006.

Israeli military officials showed little optimism for the truce, stressing that Israel’s defence forces would remain on alert for a possible ground offensive aimed at ousting Hamas from Gaza, where it violently seized control a year ago. General Yossi Baidatz, who heads the military intelligence research division, said: “If a truce is achieved with Hamas and the terrorist groups in the Gaza Strip, it would be temporary and fragile.”

Just hours before the truce was announced, six Palestinian militants were killed in a series of Israeli Air force attacks on the Gaza Strip. One of those killed was Moataz Doghmush, a senior fighter in the Army of Islam, a shadowy armed faction believed to be linked to Al-Qaeda.

Since Hamas routed forces loyal to Mahmud Abbas, the Palestinian President , Israeli troops and Palestinian militants have clashed on a near-daily basis and hundreds of people have been killed, mostly Gaza fighters.

Relations between the two Palestinian factions have thawed in recent months, aided by Mr Abbas’ growing calls for a united Palestinian front.

A Fatah delegation travelled to Gaza today in the first such trip since Hamas’s takeover.

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