Israel, Gaza militants agree to a 12-hour truce
(Agencies) Updated: 2014-07-26 18:05TRUCE NEGOTIATIONS
Diplomats will pursue efforts to secure a ceasefire in Paris on Saturday, with France hosting officials from the United States, Britain, Germany, Italy, the European Union, Turkey and Qatar, a French diplomatic source said.
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| Children under air strike in Gaza |
The top US diplomat said there were still disagreements on the terminology, but he was confident there was a framework that would ultimately succeed and that "serious progress" had been made, although there was more work to do.
Hamas wants an end to an Israeli-Egyptian blockade of Gaza before agreeing to halt hostilities. Israeli officials said any ceasefire must allow the military to carry on hunting down Hamas's tunnel network that criss-crosses the Gaza border.
Israel says some of the tunnels reach into Israel and are meant to carry out attack on Israelis. Other underground passages serve as weapon caches and serve as Hamas bunkers.
The Gaza turmoil has stoked tensions in east Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank, some of which US-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas governs in uneasy coordination with Israel.
Medics said eight Palestinians were killed in incidents near the cities of Nablus and Hebron on Friday, including one shooting that witnesses blamed on an apparent Jewish settler.
On Thursday night, 10,000 demonstrators marched in solidarity with Gaza near the Palestinian administrative capital Ramallah - a scale recalling mass revolts of the past.
Protesters surged against an Israeli army checkpoint, throwing rocks and Molotov cocktails, and Palestinian medics said one was shot dead and 200 wounded when troops opened fire.
Abbas's Palestine Liberation Organization called for more demonstrations in the West Bank and said it was at the same time working to secure a ceasefire deal.
