Truce as deaths in Gaza pass 900

Written By Unknown on Sabtu, 26 Juli 2014 | 19.21

26 July 2014 Last updated at 13:06
Gaza residents gather belongings

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Chris Morris reports from Shejaiya, where people are using the truce to dash back to their homes to gather what they can

Residents in Gaza are using a 12-hour humanitarian truce to return to their homes, gather essential supplies and search for those trapped in the rubble.

At least 85 bodies have been pulled from the rubble during the truce, a Palestinian health official says.

That raises the Palestinian death toll to 985 since the Israel-Hamas conflict began on 8 July, the spokesman said. Thirty-nine Israelis have died.

International talks on a longer truce have resumed in Paris.

Israel said it would continue to "locate and neutralise" Hamas tunnels during the pause, which began at 08:00 local time (05:00 GMT).

So far 31 tunnels have been discovered, with about half destroyed, Israeli's military says.

Before the truce began, Israeli strikes killed at least 19 Palestinians overnight at a family home near Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip.

Images showed relatives weeping as the bodies of five children were taken to a local morgue.

Two Israeli soldiers were also killed overnight, Israel's military confirmed.

The Iron Dome defence system intercepted three rockets fired towards the southern Israeli town of Ashkelon overnight.

'Astonishing scene': Ian Pannell, BBC News, Gaza City

In the district of Shejaiya, residents started flooding back from 08:00, despite warnings not to do so.

The scene here is just astonishing - the most widespread destruction: buildings completely pulverised, cars thrown 50m (160ft) into the air on top of buildings, the facades of some block of flats completely ripped off.

The air is pretty thick with the stench of death as people try to recover bodies and belongings.

In the background I can hear a crackle of gunfire. Although a humanitarian ceasefire is in place, clearly people are still shooting. There is an Israeli drone flying overhead, and we've heard the sound of fighter jets.

I think people feel they have a brief window of opportunity to do as much as they can and then frankly get out of here.

Follow Ian Pannell's tweets from Gaza

'Confident of ceasefire'

US Secretary of State John Kerry is meeting the foreign ministers of Turkey, Qatar and some European countries in Paris in the hopes of agreeing a longer ceasefire.

Mr Kerry spent a week in the Middle East attempting to broker a deal before leaving Egypt on Friday.

"The goal is to bring together international efforts so that as quickly as possible conditions for a cease-fire in Gaza emerge," said a French foreign ministry spokesman.

Hamas insists that any ceasefire should include a lifting of the blockade imposed on Gaza by Israel and Egypt since 2007.

Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev said Israel "appreciated" Mr Kerry's continued efforts, and that Israel wanted "peace and quiet".

"The people of Gaza are not our enemy, our enemy are the people shooting those rockets into Israeli cities," Mr Regev told the BBC.

Israel is reported to want to continue operations against Hamas infiltration tunnels once direct conflict ends.

In the meantime, the 12-hour truce was agreed overnight, although the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) vowed to respond if attacked.

The truce came shortly after Israeli Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon warned that ground operations in Gaza could soon be broadened "significantly".

Bethlehem clashes

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Palestinian protesters clashed with Israeli security forces in Bethlehem, in the West Bank, as Orla Guerin reports

The British ambassador to the UN, Mark Lyall Grant, said he was disappointed at the failure to reach a longer-term truce.

But he welcomed Saturday's 12-hour pause, saying it could "open up a little bit of space to work on a more sustainable ceasefire".

Separately, the UK confirmed it would send £2m ($3.39m) of additional assistance to the UN Relief and Works Agency (Unrwa) in Gaza.

There were also clashes during protests in the West Bank on Friday which left at least five Palestinians dead.

Palestinians in the West Bank had declared a "Day of Rage" against Israel's military operation in the Gaza Strip.

Israel launched its military offensive on 8 July with the declared objective of stopping Hamas firing rockets into Israel.

It has since extended its operation to destroy tunnels dug by militants to infiltrate Israel.

Are you in the West Bank, Gaza or Israel? How has the ceasefire affected you? You can email your experiences to haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk, using the subject line 'Israel Gaza'.


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