American and Egyptian officials may announced the signing of a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas tonight, according to reports.

It is thought the final wording of an agreement is being worked on, and German officials are working to mediate between the two conflicting groups.

Earlier on Tuesday two Palestinian children were killed in an explosion thought to have been caused by a Hamas rocket in the Annazla neighbourhood north of Gaza City.

The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights said: “Relatives and neighbours say they didn’t hear an Israeli drone or an F16 jet flying over-head before the strike.

“There were certainly no Apache helicopters in the area and the location is too far from the coast to have been struck by shells from a naval boat

“There are suspicions that one boy was, in fact, killed by one of the many home-made Hamas rockets fired towards Israel from this crowded area - which are, by their nature, far from reliable.”

Associated Press reported that Israel had “vehemently denied” involvement in the incident and had said it had not carried out any attacks in the area at the time.