Gaza Live: Israel Will Pay For Ground Operation in Gaza, Warns Hamas
08:56 am: 248 dead as Israeli strikes enter 11th day
The death toll in Gaza hit 248 early on Friday as Israel pressed a ground offensive on the 11th day of a massive operation to stamp out militant rocket fire.
The latest death included a man in Shejaiyeh, east of Gaza city, raising Friday's death toll to seven, emergency services spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra said.
According to figures provided by the Gaza-based Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, more than 80 percent of the victims were civilians.
At least 1,920 Palestinians have also been wounded.
08:38 am: Kerry urges Israel to conduct precise strikes
US Secretary of State John Kerry urged Israel on Thursday to limit collateral damage in Gaza, urging the Jewish state to be "precise" in its ground assault on the Palestinian enclave.
Hours before Kerry's phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel launched a ground operation aimed at hitting the Palestinian militant Hamas group. By the early morning hours Friday, the death toll in Gaza hit 247.
In his call with Netanyahu, Kerry "emphasized the need to avoid further escalation and to restore the 2012 ceasefire as soon as possible, reinforced our continuing commitment to the Egyptian initiative as the way to do so and underscored the importance of Hamas accepting this plan as soon as possible," a State Department statement said.
The Israeli leader, in turn, stressed to Kerry the "imminent threat" to Israeli civilians posed by
Hamas tunnels from the Gaza Strip to Israel, according to the statement.
Kerry "reaffirmed our strong support for Israel's right to defend itself against terrorist threats emanating from tunnels into Israel and expressed our view that this should be a precise operation to target tunnels," according to his office.
"The secretary also reiterated our concern about the safety and security of civilians on both sides and the importance of doing everything possible to prevent civilian casualties."
Hamas, the Islamist rulers of Gaza, had rejected a ceasefire intended to start on Tuesday and continued firing rockets at Israeli cities.
08:15 am: Palestinian President calls on Israel to halt ground ops
Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas called on Israel to stop its ground operation in the Gaza Strip, saying it will cause more bloodshed and complicate efforts to end the conflict, Egypt's official MENA news agency reported Friday.
Abbas' remarks came hours after Israel launched a ground operation aimed at hitting the Palestinian militant Hamas group, and as the death toll in Gaza hit 247 early on Friday.
"Israel must stop its (ground) operation in the Gaza Strip," MENA quoted Abbas as saying as he addressed a group of Egyptian intellectuals and journalists in Cairo.
"This operation would only lead to more bloodshed and complicate the situation and efforts to stop the (Israeli) aggression."
7:58 am: Israeli ground operation bound to fail, says Hamas
Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal said Friday that Israel's ground operation in Gaza was destined to fail, in remarks to AFP in the Qatari capital.
"What the occupier Israel failed to achieve through its air and sea raids, it will not be able to achieve with a ground offensive. It is bound to fail," Meshaal said from his exile in Doha.
A Hamas spokesman in Gaza said earlier "Israel will pay a high price" for launching the ground operation and that the Islamist Palestinian movement "is ready for the confrontation".
Meshaal said Hamas has "clear demands", including an end to "the aggression and collective punishment against our people in Gaza and in the West Bank, as well as the lifting of the Gaza siege."
He insisted that the "source of the problem lies with the Israeli occupation and the construction of settlements" which he said the Palestinian people are "determined to get rid of sooner or later". He did not elaborate.
The exile Hamas leader also called on the international community to "assume its responsibility and put an end to Israeli terrorism".
7:49 am: Egypt denounces Israeli 'escalation' in Gaza
Egypt's foreign ministry denounced Israel's "escalation" in Gaza after the start of a ground offensive late on Thursday, and again demanded both sides accept a Cairo proposed truce.
The ground operation after 10 days of Israeli bombardment of the coastal strip is aimed at hitting the Palestinian militant Hamas group, which rejected the truce and continued firing rockets into Israel after the Jewish State agreed to the ceasefire.
"Egypt condemns the Israeli escalation in Gaza and calls for self-control as its air strikes and ground operation only aggravate the situation and do not help preserve Israel's security," the foreign ministry said.
It said both Israel and Hamas must "immediately and unconditionally accept the Egyptian (ceasefire) proposal as it offers protection to the Palestinian people. It is the only way to halt the aggression and preserve the blood of our brotherly Palestinian people."
7:40 am: Israeli tank fire kills two including a baby
Israeli tank fire killed two people, including a five-month-old baby, in the southern Gaza city of Rafah early Friday, medics said.
Emergency services spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra announced the deaths as Israel said it was launching a ground operation after 10 days of conflict with the Palestinian Hamas group.
7:32 am: UN chief says Israel needs to "do far more" to spare civilians
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged Israel to "do far more" to spare Palestinian civilians after it launched a ground offensive in Gaza on Thursday.
"I regret that despite my repeated urgings, and those of many regional and world leaders together, an already dangerous conflict has now escalated even further," Ban told reporters.
The UN chief described as "appalling" the death of four boys killed by Israeli strikes Wednesday on a Gaza City beach.
"I urge Israel to do far more to stop civilian casualties. There can be no military solution to this conflict," he said.
Israel began a ground operation in Gaza on Thursday, on the 10th day of an offensive to stamp out rocket fire from the Hamas-run enclave that has had a heavy toll on Palestinian lives.
7:28 am: Israel approves the draft of 18,000 reserve soldiers
Israel approved early Friday the draft of 18,000 new reserve soldiers, the army said, as it launched a ground operation in the Gaza Strip.
"Following the approval of the government, the IDF increased the draft of reserve forces to 18,000 troops," the army said in a statement.
A spokeswoman told AFP the decision raised the overall number of soldiers called in since the start of Operation Protective Edge to 65,000, without saying how many of them had actually been mobilised.
7:19 am: Gaza toll hikes to 241
Four people were killed by Israeli fire in Gaza on Thursday night as the Jewish state announced a ground operation in the coastal enclave, medics said.
The deaths raised the Gaza toll in 10 days of violence to 241, emergency services spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra said.
The deaths included one man killed in shelling in southern Khan Yunis, and three killed by tank fire in east Gaza.
The three were a four-year-old child, a 15-year-old, and a man aged 26, Qudra said.
Their deaths came after a strike that killed three children in the Sabra neighbourhood of central Gaza -- Jihad, Waseem and Fulla from the Shuheiber family.
They were killed following the end of a five-hour humanitarian ceasefire, which brought some respite for residents of the besieged Palestinian territory.
Another strike shortly afterwards in the southern city of Khan Yunis killed four-year-old girl Rahaf al-Jubur, and a 29-year-old man, Hamza al-Abadleh.
And another child died of wounds sustained in an earlier strike in Gaza City, Qudra said.
7:10 am: Israel will pay for ground operation in Gaza, says Hamas
Israel will pay a "high price" for launching a ground invasion of the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian Hamas movement said on Thursday night.
"The start of the Israeli ground attack on Gaza is a dangerous step, the consequences of which have not been calculated," said Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhum in a statement.
"Israel will pay a high price and Hamas is ready for the confrontation."
"Following 10 days of Hamas attacks by land, air and sea, and after repeated rejections of offers to de-escalate the situation, the Israel Defence Forces (army) has initiated a ground operation within the Gaza Strip," the army said in a statement.
6:50 am: Israel launches ground offensive in Gaza
Israel launched a ground operation in Gaza late Thursday on the 10th day of an offensive to stamp out rocket attacks from the Palestinian enclave, the army said.
"Following 10 days of Hamas attacks by land, air and sea, and after repeated rejections of offers to deescalate the situation, the Israel Defence Forces (army) has initiated a ground operation within the Gaza Strip," it said in a statement.
The army said the aim of the operation is to protect Israeli lives and crush Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip.
"The IDF's objective as defined by the Israeli government is to establish a reality in which Israeli residents can live in safety and security without continues indiscriminate terror, while striking a significant blow to Hamas's terror infrastructure," the statement said.
Israel launched Operation Protective Edge on July 8 to stamp out rocket attacks from Gaza and the army said the new operation will include ground and air assaults.
"This stage of operation 'Protective Edge', led by the IDF's Southern Command, will include close coordination between IDF units including infantry, armoured corps, engineer corps, artillery, and intelligence combined with aerial and naval support," it said.
"This effort will also be supported by the Israeli Security Agency (ISA) and other intelligence organisations," the army added.
"In the face of Hamas' tactics to leverage civilian casualties in pursuit of its terrorist goals, the IDF will continue in its unprecedented efforts to limit civilian harm," it said.
At least 240 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli air strikes since July 8, many of them children, medics in Gaza said, with a NGO based in the coastal enclave saying 80 percent of the deaths are civilians.
6:45 am: Hamas could've saved lives by agreeing to truce
Egypt's foreign minister said Thursday that Hamas could have saved dozens of lives if it had accepted a Cairo-mediated truce earlier this week in its conflict with Israel.
"Had Hamas accepted the Egyptian proposal, it could have saved the lives of at least 40 Palestinians," Sameh Shoukri said, quoted by state news agency MENA.
6:38 am: Israel shoots down Hamas drone
Israel shot down a Hamas drone near the southern city of Ashkelon close to the Gaza border on Thursday, in the second such incident this week, the military said.
"Aircraft detected an unmanned plane and it was intercepted with a surface-to-air Patriot missile near Ashkelon," it said in a statement.
Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas which controls Gaza, said it launched the drone into the airspace of the "Zionist enemy".
On Monday, Hamas boasted that it had launched a drone flight deep into Israel, targeting the defence ministry in the heart of Tel Aviv.
The Israeli army confirmed it had shot down an unmanned aircraft but said it was intercepted well south of Tel Aviv.
6:21 am: Israeli tanks shell Gaza hospital for paralysed patients
Israeli tanks are shelling Gaza's Al-Wafa hospital, whose 14 patients include some who are paralysed or in a coma, and several people have been hurt, the facility's director said Thursday.
"Israeli tanks are shelling the hospital, they have hit several of the floors, and several nurses have been injured," director Basman Alashi told AFP.
The hospital in Gaza's Shejaiya district has come under Israeli fire several times before, and the Israeli military has called on Alashi and other doctors to evacuate it.
Alashi told AFP on Wednesday that it was almost impossible to move the patients, most of whom are immobile, and he questioned where they could go.
"There is no place safe in Gaza! If a hospital is not safe, where is?" he said.
On Thursday night, he said he was contacting other hospitals in Gaza to try to arrange ambulances to transport the 14 patients elsewhere after Al-Wafa came under renewed Israeli fire.
"But the ambulances are all in use, there is heavy shelling in many places," he said.
"And each patient has to be taken individually and carried because they cannot move."
"They are tearing the hospital apart, bit by bit."
6:19 am: Three dead in Israeli tank shelling
Three Palestinians were killed on Thursday in Israeli tank shelling in the east of the Gaza Strip, medics said.
There were no immediate details on the three, with emergency services spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra saying they were killed east of the Shejaiyeh area.
6:05 am: Egypt, Hamas mull donors conference to rebuild Gaza
Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas on Thursday mulled holding a donors conference to rebuild Gaza, the Egyptian presidency said.
Sisi and Abbas, who discussed ways to end the Israeli offensive on the Palestinian enclave, also agreed that Israeli crossings to the besieged Gaza be opened to facilitate movement of people and goods.
It was not clear whether they were also referring to Egypt's Rafah border crossing with Gaza, the only passage that bypasses Israel.
The two leaders met amid intensifying global efforts to end the deadly conflict as Israel and Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist movement that is the main power in Gaza, resumed their strikes, after a brief halt of hostilities Thursday on humanitarian grounds.
"The two presidents agreed on the urgency of holding a donors conference to immediately start rebuilding the Gaza Strip," a statement from the Egyptian presidency said.
It said Sisi and Abbas agreed on the "necessity of an immediate ceasefire" based on an Egyptian plan to stop the conflict that has killed at least 240 Palestinians since Israel launched Operation Protective Edge on July 8 to stamp out rocket fire from Gaza militants.
End of updates for 18 July
12:30 am: US asks Israel to do more to protect civilians
The United States on Thursday urged Israel to do more to protect civilians caught in the crossfire between the Jewish state and Hamas, after Israeli air strikes killed four children in Gaza.
"We ask (Israel) to redouble their efforts to prevent civilian casualties. We believe there is more
that can be done," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters.
12:09 am: Four more children dead in Gaza, death rises to 237
Israeli air strikes in Gaza killed four children on Thursday, medics said, after a humanitarian lull in a
10-day conflict that has killed 237 Palestinians.
One strike hit the Sabra neighbourhood of central Gaza, killing three children -- Jihad, Waseem and Fulla -- from the Shuheiber family, emergency services spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra told AFP.
Their deaths were the first to follow the end of a five-hour humanitarian ceasefire, which brought some respite for residents of the besieged Palestinian territory.
Another strike shortly afterwards in the southern city of Khan Yunis killed four-year-old girl Rahaf al-Jubur, and a 29-year-old man, Hamza al-Abadleh.
Before the ceasefire took effect at 10:00 (0700 GMT), Israeli tank fire killed three men in their twenties in the southern city of Rafah, Qudra said.
One Israeli has also been killed by rockets fired by Palestinian militants.
The Rafah deaths came after another seven Palestinians were killed overnight.
Two men were killed in Gaza City, another two in Deir al-Balah and a fifth in northern Beit Lahiya.
One man was also killed in southern Khan Yunis and another in Rafah, Qudra said.
In addition, 1,690 people had been injured during the conflict, Qudra said.
11:20 pm: French Foreign Minister to visit Egypt, Israel today
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius will travel on Friday to Egypt and Israel for talks aimed at bringing the deadly conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians to an end, President Francois Hollande said Thursday.
Fabius said on Wednesday that Europe was ready to take action to help bring about a ceasefire between the two parties.
11:08 pm: Three children among those dead in Israeli air strikes, death toll rises to 234
An Israeli air strike in Gaza killed three children on Thursday, medics said, after a humanitarian lull in a 10-day conflict that has killed 234 Palestinians.
The strike hit the Sabra neighbourhood in the centre of Gaza, killing three children from the same family, emergency services spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra told AFP.
Their deaths were the first to follow the end of a five-hour humanitarian ceasefire, requested by the UN, which brought some respite for residents of the besieged Palestinian territory.
Before the ceasefire took effect at 10:00 (0700 GMT), Israeli tank fire killed three men in their
twenties in the southern city of Rafah, Qudra said.
One Israeli has also been killed by rockets fired by Palestinian militants.
The Rafah deaths came after another seven people were killed overnight.
Two men were killed in Gaza City, another two in Deir al-Balah and a fifth in northern Beit Lahiya.
One man was also killed in southern Khan Yunis and another in Rafah, Qudra said.
In addition, 1,690 people had been injured during conflict, Qudra said.
10:30 pm: Hamas, Israel resume attacks after brief truce
Fierce fighting between Israel and Hamas resumed Thursday, including an airstrike that killed three Palestinian children feeding pigeons on their roof, after a temporary cease-fire that allowed Gazans to stock up on supplies.
The resumption of violence signaled major obstacles to Egyptian-led efforts to reach a permanent truce between the two sides, despite increased efforts by Egypt to broker a deal.
The UN-brokered five-hour lull in fighting gave residents of the Gaza Strip time to crowd into stores and vegetable markets after more than a week of being mostly holed up at home for fear of airstrikes.
But the streets emptied out quickly after the cease-fire expired, with Palestinian militants firing more than 50 rockets at Israel, including a heavy salvo toward the Tel Aviv area that sent people running for cover, the Israeli military said.
9:57 pm: Palestinian prez meets Egypt's Sisi over Gaza conflict
Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas met Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Thursday amid intensifying efforts to end the deadly Israeli military offensive on Gaza, a Palestinian official told AFP.
The talks came as Israel and Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist movement that is the main power in Gaza, resumed their strikes, after a brief halt of hostilities Thursday on humanitarian grounds.
More than 230 Palestinians have been killed since Israel launched Operation Protective Edge on 8 July to stamp out rocket fire from Gaza militants, medics say. An Israeli died in cross-border rocket fire.
Details of the meeting between Abbas and Sisi were not immediately available.
Cairo has once again become a diplomatic hub to end the fighting in Gaza after Egypt initially proposed a failed truce without consulting Hamas.
Abbas met in Cairo on Wednesday Hamas deputy leader Mussa Abu Marzuq, who insisted on changes to the Egyptian truce plan including guarantees on opening border crossings to the besieged Gaza Strip.
The initiative called for a return to an Egyptian-brokered 2012 ceasefire that ended eight days of fighting, and loosened border restrictions on goods for the blockaded coastal enclave.
Israel initially accepted the Egyptian initiative but later intensified its air strikes after Hamas rejected the plan, saying it had not been consulted.
9:48 pm: Lebanon files UN complaint against Israel
Lebanon filed a complaint on Thursday against Israel at the UN Security Council, saying it had violated its sovereignty by opening fire on its territory in retaliation for rocket attacks.
The foreign ministry said Israel fired 102 shells at Lebanon between 11 and 14 July, during the ongoing war between Israel and Gaza, describing this as "repeated and dangerous violations".
During that same period at least nine rockets were fired from south Lebanon into Israel.
Israel has responded with artillery fire.
The foreign ministry said Lebanon "rejects the firing of rockets (from its territory) on occupied Palestinian territory," in a reference to Israel.
This action "is a threat to peace and stability that serves neither Lebanon nor the Palestinian resistance, and gives Israel reason to attack Lebanon and its sovereignty," it added.
On Wednesday the Lebanese army announced that two Palestinian brothers suspected of involvement in rocket attacks on northern Israel had been arrested.
9:33 pm: Israel strikes Gaza as ceasefire ends
Israeli warplanes struck an open area in northern Gaza on Thursday afternoon in the first air strike since the end of a fragile five-hour truce, witnesses said.
The strike in Beit Lahiya hit an open area, causing no injuries, and came after the end of a UN-negotiated truce that Israel and Hamas accused each other of having violated.
9:25 pm: UN agency probing violation of international law after rockets found in Gaza school
The UN agency for Palestinian refugees UNRWA said Thursday it was investigating after finding 20 rockets hidden in one of its vacant schools in the Gaza Strip.
It condemned the incident as a "flagrant violation" of international law and said the rockets had been removed and the "relative parties" informed.
"Yesterday, in the course of the regular inspection of its premises, UNRWA discovered approximately 20 rockets hidden in a vacant school in the Gaza Strip," the agency said in a statement.
"UNRWA strongly condemns the group or groups responsible for placing the weapons in one of its installations," it continued.
"This is a flagrant violation of the inviolability of its premises under international law."
It said the incident was the first of its kind, warning that it "endangered civilians including staff and put at risk UNRWA's vital mission."
The statement said UNRWA "informed the relevant parties and successfully took all necessary measures for the removal of the objects."
"UNRWA has launched a comprehensive investigation."
Israel regularly Hamas and other Gaza militants of using civilian installations to store and launch rockets, including during the current conflict that began on July 8.
7:57 pm: Turkish PM Erdogan accuses Israel of trying 'systematic genocide' in Gaza
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday accused Israel of attempting a "systematic genocide" of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, his strongest attack yet on the Jewish state over its air campaign in the territory.
"We are witnessing this systematic genocide every Ramadan. The Western world remains silent, so does the Islamic world," Erdogan told a meeting of Islamic scholars in Istanbul to mark the holy Muslim fasting month of Ramadan. "Because those who lost their lives are Palestinian, you can't hear their voices," he added.
6:43 pm: Rockets fired from Gaza hit Israeli city
A rocket fired from Gaza hit the Israeli city of Ashkelon on Thursday, the army said, just as a five-hour lull in 10 days of Israel-Hamas fighting ended.
The rocket hit at exactly 3:00 pm (1200 GMT), the army said in a statement, after the two sides had agreed to cease hostilities on humanitarian grounds for five hours from 0700 GMT, at the request of the UN, AFP reported.
5:24 pm: Hamas denies reports that ceasefire agreement has been reached
A Hamas official denied that a ceasefire deal with Israel had been reached, rejecting claims from an Israeli official that they had agreed to halt fire early Friday.
"The news about a ceasefire is incorrect. There are continuing efforts but no agreement until now," Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri told AFP on Thursday.
The denial came after an Israeli official who spoke to AFP on condition of anonymity said the Jewish state had agreed a ceasefire with Hamas that would begin at 0300 GMT on Friday.
4:42 pm: Hamas, Israel agree on fresh ceasefire
Israel and the Islamist Hamas movement have agreed on a ceasefire that will begin at 0300 GMT on Friday, an Israeli official told AFP on Friday.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said that Israel and Hamas "have agreed upon a ceasefire that will begin at 6:00 am tomorrow".
4:15 pm: Israel charges three Jews for kidnapping and murder of Palestinian teen
Israeli prosecutors indicted three Jews on Thursday over the kidnapping and murder of a Palestinian teenager burned to death earlier this month, the justice ministry said.
AFP reported that the identity of those charged was not disclosed by the ministry, which simply stated that one was a 19-year-old from the West Bank settlement of Adam and the others were aged 16 and from the same family.
Mohammed Abu Khder, 16, was kidnapped from east Jerusalem on July 2 and burned to death in a suspected revenge attack for the abduction and killing of three Israeli teenagers.
3:57 pm: Over 230 dead in Gaza over 10 days of violence
Israeli tank fire killed three people in the Gaza Strip on Thursday, medics said, as the overall death toll from 10 days of violence in the Palestinian territory rose to 231.
One Israeli has also been killed by rockets fired by Palestinian militants.
Gaza emergency services spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra said the three, all men in their 20s, were killed in southern Rafah shortly before 10:00 am (0700 GMT).
Their deaths came after another seven people were killed overnight.
Two men were killed in Gaza City, another two in Deir al-Balah and a fifth in northern Beit Lahiya.
An Israeli mobile artillery unit fires towards Gaza from outside the northern Gaza Strip, before the start of a five-hour humanitarian ceasefire. Reuters imageAn Israeli mobile artillery unit fires towards Gaza from outside the northern Gaza Strip, before the start of a five-hour humanitarian ceasefire.
One man was also killed in southern Khan Yunis and another in Rafah, also in the south, Qudra said.
Another man injured by a strike in Rafah on Wednesday died of his wounds on Thursday.
In addition, 1,690 people had been injured during conflict, Qudra said.
Israel and the Hamas movement announced Thursday they were observing a five-hour humanitarian truce called for by the United Nations.
According to figures provided by the Gaza-based Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR), more than 80 percent of the conflict's victims have been civilians.
So far, one person has been killed in Israel -- a civilian who died on Tuesday evening in a rocket strike near the Erez crossing, medics said. At least four Israelis have been seriously wounded.
Since the latest violence began before dawn on July 8, at least 1,021 rockets fired from Gaza have struck Israel, and another 256 have been shot down by the Iron Dome air defence system, army figures show.
During its campaign of air strikes aimed at halting the rocket fire, Israel has struck more than 1,750 "terror targets" across the coastal enclave, the army said.
3:30 pm: Gazans scurry to take advantage of brief ceasefire
After days of empty streets and shuttered shops, Gaza City sprang back to life during a fragile UN-negotiated humanitarian truce between Hamas and Israel to halt cross-border fire.
The Islamist movement and Israel began observing the five-hour ceasefire at 0700 GMT, after 10 days of violence that has killed at least 230 Palestinians and one Israeli.
And hours later the ceasefire appeared to be holding despite reports that three mortar rounds fired from Gaza hit southern Israel.
The people of Gaza City immediately took advantage, taking to the streets in their cars and forcing police to try to negotiate the traffic jams that suddenly formed.
And outside banks in the city, crowds of hundreds of people massed on ATMs, eager to withdraw
money to buy supplies before the five-hour truce ends at 1200 GMT.
"I've been borrowing money from people to get by, and now I'm going to be able to pay them back," said Abdul Qassam Ataneh, waiting outside a branch of the Bank of Palestine.
"The truce is a chance for people to get out of their homes and get money and supplies.
"Ramadan comes with a lot of expenses," he added, in reference to the ongoing Muslim month of fasting.
But two and a half hours into the truce, three mortar rounds were fired from Gaza into the southern Israeli region of Eshkol, the Israeli military said.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility from militants in Gaza.
Before the mortar attack, Mohamed Nasr said he was happy with the brief truce, but wished the hours were longer.
"It's not enough. People need to go out and get supplies and to get their belongings. It should have been from 7:00 am until dusk," he told AFP.
"We've been stuck in our houses during this war, because of the violence. It's like living under curfew."
3:00 pm: Mortar shells from Gaza hit Israel two hours after ceasefire takes effect
Israel's military says three mortar shells were fired from Gaza after a humanitarian ceasefire went into effect.
Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld had earlier said two rockets fell in open areas in southern Israel, causing no damage or injuries. He said the rockets landed at 12 pm local time, two hours after the cease-fire began.
The army later said in a statement that the attack consisted of three mortar shells.
It was not immediately clear whether the Israeli military would respond.
2:56 pm: Egypt says Gaza ceasefire proposal gaining momentum
Egypt's foreign minister says its proposal for a cease-fire between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas is gaining momentum, calling it the only viable way to stop an "intolerable humanitarian situation" in Gaza.
"The plan has been widely endorsed by the Arab League, it has been endorsed by the European Union... and it continues to gain momentum in terms of recognition," Sameh Shukri said Thursday in an interview with The Associated Press.
The plan, which includes easing access to Gaza, was accepted by Israel this week but rejected by Hamas, which said it had never been consulted, a claim Shukri denied.
1:24 pm: Five-hour ceasefire begins
Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas began observing a temporary five-hour humanitarian ceasefire, both sides said, on the 10th day of conflict between the sides.
"We are holding our fire until 3:00 pm (1200 GMT) today in order to enable a humanitarian window in Gaza. If Hamas fires, we will respond with force," Israel's army said on its Twitter account.
"All the factions including Hamas are implementing what they announced, a stop to the operations of the resistance," he told AFP.
"We and all factions will follow and observe the occupation's implementation of this temporary truce," he added.
Israel and Hamas agreed on Wednesday to abide by a five-hour humanitarian truce, from 0700 to 1200 GMT, as requested by the United Nations.
It brought temporary reprieve from nine days of fighting in which 230 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli strikes, and one Israeli killed by a rocket attack.
No aid is expected to enter Gaza during the pause in fighting, but it will give thousands of Palestinians who have fled their homes the chance to return, albeit briefly.
And aid officials said the ceasefire would allow them to access areas previously off-limits because of ongoing fighting.
1:00 pm: Israeli tank strike Gaza killing 3 minutes before truce came into effect
Israeli tank fire hit a house in southern Gaza on Thursday, killing three people, minutes before a five-hour truce went into effect, medics said.
Emergency services spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra said four other people were seriously wounded in the attack on the house in Rafah.
12:36 pm: Bill Clinton says Israel isolating itself from world opinion
Former US president Bill Clinton has warned Israel about "isolating itself from world opinion" due to repeated conflicts in Gaza after four children were killed on a beach in the latest violence.
More than 220 Palestinians, most of them civilians, have died during 10 days of Israeli bombing and shelling in Gaza in retaliation for over 1,200 rocket attacks from Hamas militants.
"Over the long run it is not good for Israel to keep isolating itself from world opinion because of the absence of a viable peace process," Clinton told NDTV.
"In the short to medium term, Hamas can inflict terrible public relations damage on Israel by forcing it to kill Palestinian civilians to counter Hamas," he added.
Hamas had a "strategy designed to force Israel to kill their own (Palestinian) civilians so the rest of the world will condemn them," while Israel couldn't "look like fools" by not responding to the heavy missile attacks.
Clinton, who pushed hard while president for a comprehensive peace deal at a Camp David summit in 2000, urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to resume serious talks.
"I believe that Prime Minister Netanyahu could and should make a comprehensive peace agreement with the Palestinians," he said, adding that he believed 60 percent of Israelis would support him.
The objective of all should be "a peace process that gets Israel security recognition and peace and that gets the Palestinians their state," he said.
11:42 am: Israel says it has thwarted attack by 13 Gaza infiltrators
The Israeli army said it foiled an "infiltration" into southern Israel by Gaza militants on Thursday, shortly before a humanitarian ceasefire with Hamas took effect.
"This morning our forces successfully foiled a terror attack," army spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Peter Lerner told journalists in a telephone briefing.
Thirteen militants emerged from a tunnel under the southern Gaza border, and were headed towards Sufa kibbutz, a small community just over a kilometre (mile) away, when they were spotted, Lerner said.
Israel forces killed at least one of the militants in an air raid, he said, leaving the rest scurrying back towards the tunnel.
There were no details of any other deaths or injuries, and there were no casualties on the Israeli side, Lerner said.
Hamas's armed wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, claimed in a statement that it was behind the "operation".
But it denied any of its members had been killed in an air strike, instead saying they had completed their "mission" at 4:00 am (0100 GMT) before retreating back to the tunnel.
It did not elaborate on the aim of the mission.
9:50 am: Photo shows terrified children running from shelling moments before they were killed
The New York Times posted a photo of terrified children running as Israeli shells hit a Gaza beachfront, killing four of them. Captured by a local media organisation, the photo shows the beachfront and four children running amid shelling:
8:59 am: Palestinian-American teen beaten up by Israeli authorities returns to the US
The Palestinian-American teen who relatives allege was beaten by Israeli authorities earlier this month has arrived home in Florida.
Tariq Abu Khdeir told supporters at Tampa International Airport late Wednesday that their prayers had gotten him through his ordeal.
Officials with the Council on American-Islamic Relations say the 15-year-old suffered head trauma and had to receive stitches on his face.
Israeli authorities investigated what they say was his participation in violent protests over the death of his cousin, 16-year-old Mohammed Abu Khdeir. His family denied that he participated in the protests.
Palestinians suspect Mohammed Abu Khdeir was killed by Israeli extremists exacting revenge for the abduction and killings of three Israeli teens in the West Bank last month.
7:44 am: Hamas agrees to five-hour humanitarian ceasefire
Hamas on Thursday agreed to join a temporary Gaza ceasefire requested by the United Nations on humanitarian grounds.
"The group agrees to a ceasefire for five hours," starting from 10:00 am (0700 GMT) Thursday, Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zukhri said in a statement.
Earlier the Israeli military said it had accepted a UN request to halt its attacks on the Gaza Strip in what a senior United Nations official called a "humanitarian pause".
"Between 10:00 and 15:00 (0700-1200 GMT), the Israel Defence Forces will cease operational activity within the Gaza Strip and hold its fire," an army statement said.
Abu Zukhri said the same.
"The Palestinian factions agreed to accept the offer from the United Nations for a cooling-down on the ground for five hours starting from 10 in the morning," he told AFP.
"It is in the interest of all the citizens of Gaza, in order to give them a chance to go to the hospital, get health care or get food," UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East peace process, Robert Serry, told Israel's Channel Two television on Wednesday evening.
7:30 am: EU leaders urge Israel to show restraint
EU leaders on Wednesday condemned the firing of rockets into Israel while urging the Jewish state to "act proportionately" and Hamas to agree to a ceasefire.
Voicing "great concern" over continued violence in Israel and Gaza, EU leaders said the bloc "condemns the firing of rockets from Gaza into Israel and the indiscriminate targeting of civilians."
"Israel has the right to protect its population (but) in doing so it must act proportionately and ensure the protection of civilians at all times," a European Union statement added.
Issued at a summit, it said the 28-nation bloc "deeply deplores the loss of innocent lives and the high number of wounded civilians in the Gaza Strip as a result of Israeli military operations."
"The European Council calls on both sides to de-escalate the situation, to end the violence, to end the suffering of the civilian populations notably by allowing access to humanitarian assistance, and return to calm."
Welcoming regional efforts to broker a truce, notably by Israel, the EU "calls on Hamas to agree on such a ceasefire," it added.
6:47 am: Israel heeds UN, says it will ceasefire for six hours
The Israeli army said it has agreed to a UN request to halt its attacks on the Gaza Strip for five hours on Thursday on humanitarian grounds.
"Between 10:00 and 15:00 (0700-1200 GMT), the Israel Defence Forces will cease operational activity within the Gaza Strip and hold its fire," it said, correcting an earlier statement which spoke of a six-hour break.
UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East peace process, Robert Serry, earlier told Israel's Channel Two television, that he had asked the military for a "humanitarian pause" in its Gaza offensive and that, if it agreed, he would ask Gaza militants to follow suit.
"If it happens, I will also call on Hamas and other militant factions to reciprocate, stop firing rockets and respect the humanitarian pause," his spokeswoman quoted him as telling the television.
"It is in the interest of all the citizens of Gaza, in order to give them a chance to go to the hospital, get health care or get food."
Hamas said it was considering the request.
"Hamas has been informed about the UN proposal for a truce of several hours tomorrow," Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri told AFP.
"The proposal is being studied and when a decision has been taken it will be announced officially in a statement."
6: 19 am: Hamas demands changes to Egypt's peace proposal
Hamas demanded changes Wednesday to an Egyptian proposal to end the deadly conflict with Israel in and around Gaza, a Palestinian official said.
Hamas's demand came as the Palestinian death toll from Israel's punishing air campaign, now in its ninth day, rose to 220 Palestinians dead after the Islamist movement snubbed the truce plan on Tuesday even though it was briefly respected by Israel.
Hamas deputy leader Mussa Abu Marzuq met Egyptian officials in Cairo and set out the changes being sought, said Azzam al-Ahmad, a senior figure in Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas's Fatah movement.
"Hamas has rejected the proposal in its current form and demanded additions, like applying the 2012 agreement concerning border crossings with Israel, and demanded right for fishing up to 12 miles into the sea," Ahmad told reporters in Cairo.
Relatives of the four Palestinian children from the Baker family killed by a shell fired by an Israeli naval gunboat, mourn during their funeral in Gaza City. Reuters imageRelatives of the four
Senior Hamas official Ghazi Hamad told AFP in Gaza City that the Egyptian plan was rejected "in its current form" and that Hamas had notified Egypt of the changes it was seeking.
"The initiative should include clear wording on fully lifting the blockade on Gaza, including opening all the crossings and releasing the rearrested prisoners from the (Gilad) Shalit deal in the West Bank," Hamad said.
He was referring to a 2011 deal under which Shalit, an Israeli soldier held by Gaza militants for more than five years, was freed in exchange for scores of Palestinian prisoners.
Earlier this week, Egypt proposed a ceasefire to start at 0600 GMT Tuesday and be followed by talks on easing the flow of goods into Gaza.
Israel initially accepted the Egyptian initiative, but later intensified its air strikes aimed at stamping out rocket fire by Gaza militants after Hamas rejected the plan.
Another Palestinian official said that Hamas and other factions were objecting to the term "hostilities" in the Egyptian initiative, complaining that "what they are doing is self-defence and resisting the occupation, but what the occupation is doing is aggression".
He said he hoped there would be "meetings between Egypt and the factions as soon as possible to adjust the wording of the initiative and get to a ceasefire".
Meanwhile, the Palestinian president flew into Cairo on Wednesday to join the diplomatic efforts for an end to the violence.
He held talks with Abu Marzuq and was due to meet Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukri and Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi later, Ahmad said.
On Thursday, he is due to meet President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.
Middle East peace Quartet envoy Tony Blair held talks on Wednesday with Sisi and Shoukri, on his second visit to Cairo in a week to discuss the Gaza conflict.
Blair said Egypt's initiative was designed "to allow all the issues that are at the heart of this problem .. to be dealt with in a thorough and proper way."
"There are demands by Hamas in respect of Gaza and there are demands by Israel in respect of security," he said.
"But the purpose of this initiative is to allow people to come and discuss those issues, but in the meantime for the violence to stop and for the lives of the innocent to be saved," Blair said at a joint news conference with Shoukri.
Shoukri said Egypt's proposal aimed at "stopping military actions in order to address the situation in Gaza in the medium and long terms, and to give an opportunity to resume the peace process."
6:04 am: Killing of children on beachfront tragic: Israeli Army
The army said the killing of four Palestinian children on a Gaza beachfront Wednesday appeared to be the "tragic outcome" of an Israeli strike targeting Hamas militants.
"Based on preliminary results the target of this strike was Hamas terrorist operatives," the military said in a statement. "The reported civilian casualties from this strike are a tragic outcome."
6:00 am: Doing everything in our power to end Gaza bloodshed
The United States is doing "everything in our power" to end the bloodshed in the Gaza Strip, Secretary of State John Kerry said Wednesday, as he kept up contacts with regional leaders.
"Our concern is to have a legitimate ceasefire and see if we can find a way to stop the conflict and killing so we can get to the real issues that are underlying it," Kerry told reporters as he met his counterpart from Luxembourg.
"And we're doing everything in our power," said Kerry, adding that he has been speaking to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Arab officials.
The State Department said that Kerry in the past day has spoken to the foreign ministers of Egypt as well as Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, which are seen as holding influence with Hamas, and to Arab League Secretary General Nabil al-Arabi.
Kerry, who has spent much of his tenure seeking unsuccessfully to negotiate a lasting peace agreement, is open to returning to the region if he would be useful, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters.
Psaki declined to criticize US ally Israel over the latest violence, in which four children died and several others were wounded in an apparent naval bombardment of a beach in GazaCity, saying the United States was not in a position to confirm the situation on the ground.
But Psaki said: "The loss of lives for children and individuals in Gaza is horrific and is a tragedy, and that's why we're so focused on bringing an end to the violence."
--End of updates for 16 July--
10:40 pm: Gaza ground invasion likely to happen, says Israeli official
In a clear indication that Israel is seriously considering ground strikes on Gaza, a senior Israeli military official told New York Times that chances of such a possibility was "very high", and that "if you want to efficiently fight terrorism you must be present, boots on the ground".
The New York Times reported: "The official, who has been briefing Israeli ministers who make strategic decisions, said his assessment was based on "the signals I get" and the diminishing returns of aerial bombardment after nine days. He said an Israeli takeover of Gaza is "not a huge challenge," estimating it would take "a matter of days or weeks," but that preventing a more dangerous devolution in the coastal enclave would require an occupation “of many months."
10:30 pm: Israeli naval shelling kills 4 boys on Gaza beach - medics
Israeli shelling killed four boys on a Gaza beach on Wednesday, a local health official said, and Palestinian militants fired a further 70 rockets into Israel after a failed Egyptian attempt to halt more than a week of warfare.
Israel urged the evacuation of several districts in the Gaza Strip where more than 100,000 people live, threatening ground operations to try to stem the rocket attacks.
An Israeli official said the defence minister asked Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's security cabinet to authorise the mobilisation of another 8,000 reserve troops. The military has said that around 30,000 reservists have been called up since the Israeli offensive began a week ago.
Israeli experts predicted overland raids in the Gaza Strip to destroy command bunkers and tunnels that have allowed the outgunned Palestinians to withstand air and naval barrages and keep the rockets flying.
The Hamas political leadership formally rejected Cairo's ceasefire plan on Wednesday, a spokesman for the Islamist group said, a day after its armed wing spurned it and kept up rocket salvoes at Israel, which held its fire for six hours on Tuesday.
Ashraf al-Qidra of the Gaza Health Ministry said shelling from an Israeli gunboat off Gaza's Mediterranean coast killed four boys - two aged 10 and the others 9 and 11 - from one family and critically wounded another youngster on the beach.
An Israeli military spokesman had no immediate comment. Netanyahu says the armed forces try to avoid civilian casualties but that militant rocket crews deliberately put non-combatants at risk by operating in densely populated residential areas.
Ahmed Abu Hassera, who witnessed the incident at the shore, told Reuters: "The kids were playing on the beach. They were all ... under the age of 15."
Israeli shelling has frequently targeted Gaza beaches, which are suspected staging areas for militants.
"When the first shell hit land, they ran away but another shell hit them all," said Abu Hassera, whose shirt was stained with blood. "It looked as if the shells were chasing them."
Reacting to the incident, Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri told reporters in Gaza: "These crimes will not succeed to break our will. We will continue the confrontation and resistance and we promise (Israel) will pay the price for all these crimes."
Gaza's Al-Mezan Center for Human rights said 259 houses had been demolished by Israeli air strikes and 1,034 damaged along with 34 mosques and four hospitals.
3:42 pm: On day 9 of Israeli strikes, Gaza death toll rises to 208
A woman and a child were among three people killed in an Israeli strike on southern Gaza on Wednesday, raising the overall death toll to 208, the emergency services said.
The latest raid took place in the southern city of Khan Yunis, killing three people from the Abu Daqqa family and wounding another five people, Ashraf al-Qudra said.
Among the dead was a 10-year-old boy and a 65-year-old woman, with witnesses saying the missile struck a car in Bani Suheila in the eastern part of the city.
The strike raised Wednesday's death toll to 11, with all the victims killed in the southern Gaza Strip.
Earlier, a strike on a house in Rafah, which straddles Gaza's southern border with Egypt, killed two men, and shortly afterwards, another young man was killed in a second strike, with witnesses identifying him as an Islamic Jihad militant.
A third strike on the city killed another man, Qudra said.
Meanwhile in Khan Yunis, a missile struck the house of Mohammed al-Arjani, killing his 19-year-old son Abdullah.
About an hour later, tank fire from inside Israel hit the eastern part of Khan Yunis, killing one person, Qudra said.
Shortly afterwards, another member of the Abu Daqqa family was also killed in the same area, he said, identifying him as Mahmud Abu Daqqa, 33.
Wednesday's air strikes raised the overall toll from Israel's nine-day operation to 208 Palestinians, with more than 1,550 injured.
According to figures provided by the Gaza-based Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR), more than 80 percent of the victims were civilians.
2:51 pm: Woman and Child among the three killed
A woman and a child were among three Palestinians killed on Wednesday in a fresh Israeli air strike in the southern Gaza Strip, an emergency services spokesman said.
In a statement, Ashraf al-Qudra confirmed three people from the Abu Daqqa family had been killed in a strike in Khan Yunis, including a 65-year-old woman and a 10-year-old boy.
Witnesses told AFP the missile struck a car in the eastern Bani Suheila neighbourhood.
2:28 pm: Three Palestinians killed in fresh Israeli raids
Three Palestinians were killed on Wednesday in a fresh Israeli air strike in the southern Gaza Strip, an emergency services spokesman said.
Witnesses told AFP the missile struck a car in the southern city of Khan Yunis, with emergency services spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra confirming three people had been killed and another five wounded.
11:30 am: Israeli military warns 100,000 Gazans to leave homes
The Israeli army has warned some 100,000 Palestinians in the eastern Gaza Strip to evacuate their homes, military sources said Wednesday.
AFP correspondents saw flyers dropped over the Zeitun neighbourhood southeast of Gaza City, and residents there and elsewhere also reported receiving recorded phone and text messages urging them to evacuate by 0500 GMT.
8:10 am: Gaza death toll crosses 200
New Israeli air strikes in Gaza early Wednesday killed several people, medics said, bringing the death toll from Israel's operation in the besieged Palestinian territory to 203.
A strike on a house in the southern city of Rafah killed two men, emergency services spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra told AFP, and a separate raid killed a young man who witnesses said was an Islamic Jihad militant.
Another Rafah strike shortly afterwards left one man dead, Qudra said, while a raid on the home of Mohammed al-Arjani in the southern city of Khan Yunis killed his son Abdullah, 19.
About an hour later, tank fire from inside Israel hit the eastern part of Khan Yunis, killing on person, Qudra said.
Some of the first raids on Wednesday morning targeted homes of senior Hamas officials, including Mahmud al-Zahar, but there were no reports of casualties in those strikes.
7:58 am: Israel targets Hamas leader's house
Israeli warplanes bombed the house of senior Hamas leader Mahmud al-Zahar on Wednesday, security officials said, on day nine of an operation against militants in the besieged Palestinian territory.
There was no one in the house, in western Gaza City, at the time the air strike hit, the security sources and witnesses said, adding that the homes of other Hamas officials were targeted in separate raids.
7:30 am: Three more Palestinians killed, death toll rises to 197
With US ally Israel facing a barrage of rocket attacks from Gaza, a Senate panel on Tuesday approved a 50 percent funding boost for the Jewish State's Iron Dome anti-missile system.
The measure, if it becomes law, would provide $621.6 million for Israeli missile defense programs for the 2015 fiscal year starting in October, including $351 million for the short-range Iron Dome system that has been put to the test over the past eight days amid a raging conflict between Israel and Hamas.
Congress appropriated $235 million to Iron Dome last year.
The White House had requested about $176 million for the system for 2015, but lawmakers doubled the amount. Congress often increases funding for Israeli security projects sought by the president.
The funding is part of the administration's request of $3.1 billion for military assistance to Israel, the world's largest beneficiary of US foreign aid.
In May, the House of Representatives adopted its own National Defense Authorization Act, which matches the Senate's Iron Dome funding proposal.
The Senate measure is part of an overall Defense Department spending bill backed by the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee Tuesday that commits $549.3 billion to military operations for 2015.
The package keeps several Pentagon projects that had been on the chopping block, including the tank-killing A-10 planes Senator John McCain described as "the best close-air support weapon in our nation's arsenal."
7:24 am: Three more Palestinians killed, death toll rises to 197
Three Palestinians were killed in two Israeli air strikes on the Gaza Strip on Tuesday night, raising the toll in eight days of violence to 197 deaths, medics said.
One strike killed two men in a car in southern Rafah, and a second in central Johr al-Deeq killed one man, emergency services spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra said.
7:18 am: When there is no cease-fire, our answer is fire: Netanyahu
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged to ramp up Israel's military campaign against Gaza, after an Egyptian truce plan failed to end eight days of cross-border fire.
"This would have been better resolved diplomatically, that's what we tried to do when we accepted the Egyptian truce proposal today," he said.
"But Hamas leaves us no choice but to expand and intensify the campaign against it," Netanyahu said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. AFP ImageIsraeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
"That's how we will act till we achieve our goal of bringing quiet to Israel's citizens, while significantly harming the terror group," he said of the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas which controls Gaza.
"When there is no cease-fire, our answer is fire,” the Washington Post quoted him as saying in his televised address.
In televised remarks, Netanyahu also addressed criticism from members of his cabinet earlier in the day, when Foreign Minister Avidgor Lieberman slammed the Israeli acceptance of the Egyptian truce and Netanyahu's "hesitance", saying Israel should conquer Gaza and expel Hamas from it.
"These are moments when decisions must be made coolly and with patience, not hastily or noisily," Netanyahu said.
"I'm determined to do the right thing, I know you trust me to ignore the background noises and focus on the main mission to safeguard you and your lives."
Shortly after Netanyahu's remarks, his bureau announced he had fired deputy defence minister Danny Danon, a firebrand member of his Likud party, who became a vocal critic of Netanyahu during the operation, calling him a "failure" and saying Hamas was controlling the conflict.
"It is inconceivable that the deputy defence minister will attack the country's leadership leading the campaign," a statement read.
"The severe remarks show a lack of responsibility... and even are used by Hamas terror group to slam the government, as evident in their communication networks," it said.
Meanwhile, speculation remained rife over a possible ground incursion, with no conclusive remarks from Israeli officials but a pledge to carry one out if the need arose.
"The army renewed its attacks and will increase them as much as necessary, in the air, sea and land, according to our orders," the armed forces chief of staff, Lieutenant General Benny Gantz, said after Netanyahu's remarks.
7:07 am: First Israeli killed as conflict enters 9th day
A rocket fired from Gaza killed an Israeli civilian on Tuesday, the army said, the first Israeli death in eight days of cross-border violence.
The man was fatally wounded near the Erez crossing into Gaza, the army said.
A spokesman for the Israeli emergency services told AFP the 38-year-old was delivering food to soldiers serving in the area.
6:54 am: Angry Palestinians drive health minister out of Gaza
Palestinian health minister Jawad Awad cancelled a trip to Gaza City's Shifa hospital on Tuesday after being confronted by angry protesters as he arrived from Egypt, officials said, AFP reported.
Witnesses said protesters threw shoes and eggs at Awad's car as he entered Gaza through the Rafah border crossing.
Officials said he left the Palestinian territory shortly afterwards.
Protesters also gathered at Shifa hospital in Gaza City, carrying posters criticising Awad and the recently formed government of technocrats to which he belongs.
The government was sworn in on 2 June following a unity deal between the Islamist Hamas movement and president Mahmud Abbas which ended seven years of rival administrations in the West Bank and Gaza.
"Gaza has been bombed, and Gaza has been destroyed, and now he comes to visit?" protester Ahmed Murtaja said incredulously.
"We don't want this visit and all the Palestinian people are opposed to it and reject it," he told AFP.
Protesters said they were angry that it had taken Awad eight days to visit Gaza, where 193 people have been killed in Israeli air strikes.
They also condemned the Palestinian president for failing to do more to halt the Israeli campaign, with some chanting: "Abu Mazen (Abbas) is a collaborator."
In a statement, the health ministry condemned the "flagrant and brutal assault" on the minister and his delegation in Rafah, blaming the incident on "media affiliated with Hamas."
Although the reconciliation agreement has held, a lot of bad blood remains between Hamas and the West Bank leadership.
"The ministry of health will continue to stand by our people in Gaza," the statement said, pledging to secure medical supplies for the wounded.
There was no immediate comment from Hamas, but a top member of its exiled politburo, Mussa Abu Marzuq, condemned the incident as "irresponsible and improper" on his Facebook page.
He called for an investigation and prosecution of those responsible.
6:12 am: One killed in renewed Israeli strikes in Gaza, death toll reaches 193
Renewed Israeli air strikes in the Gaza Strip killed a 77-year-old man on Tuesday, medics said, the first death since the failure of an Egyptian truce proposal.
The death of the man, in southern Khan Yunis, brought the toll in eight days of violence to 193, according to emergency services spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra.
6:00 am: Hamas limits crossings at border with Israel
Hamas allowed a group of 25 Palestinians, including those seeking medical treatment, to cross from Gaza into Israel after closing the border crossing earlier on Tuesday.
But it declined to let anyone else leave Gaza or enter from Israel, a Palestinian official in charge of coordinating movement at the Erez crossing told AFP.
He said a group of 13 Palestinians with injuries or illnesses were allowed to cross with 12 family members.
But no one else was allowed to use the crossing, he added.
A Hamas official confirmed the Gaza side of the border had been reopened for limited movement after it was earlier declared closed.
At the time, a Hamas official said no one would be allowed to use the crossing until an international guarantee that it would not be targeted by Israeli shelling.
The official said the border was closed for security reasons after the Palestinian side was repeatedly bombed.
There was no immediate confirmation of the border restrictions from COGAT, the Israeli defence ministry unit responsible for the crossing.
10:16 pm: Israel resumes airstrikes as Hamas rejects Egypt's ceasefire plan
Israel today resumed air strikes on Gaza after an Egyptian-brokered ceasefire failed to stop the escalating violence that has killed 192 Palestinians in nine days of fighting as Hamas continued to fire rockets at the Jewish state.
"Hamas has fired 47 rockets since we suspended our strikes in Gaza (this morning). As a result, we have resumed our operation against Hamas," an Israeli military statement said on Twitter.
"After Hamas and Islamic Jihad refused the Egyptian proposal for a ceasefire and fired dozens of rockets at Israel, the prime minister and defence minister have ordered the IDF to act forcefully against the terror targets in Gaza," an Israeli official said speaking as Israeli strikes resumed.
4:14 pm: Turkish PM Erdogan accuses Israel of committing "state terrorism"
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday stepped up his rhetoric against Israel over its its deadly air offensive on Gaza, accusing the Jewish state of committing "state terrorism" against the Palestinians, AFP reported.
Presenting himself as the sole world leader speaking up for the Palestinians, Erdogan said that any normalisation in the troubled ties between Israel and Ankara was currently out of the question.
"Israel is continuing to carry out state terrorism in the region. Nobody, except us, tells it to stop," Erdogan told members of his ruling party in parliament, accusing Israel of perpetrating a "massacre" of Palestinians.
"To what extent will the world remain silent to this state terrorism?"
Supporters from his Islamic-rooted Justice and Development Party (AKP) often interrupted his address by shouting slogans like "Murderer Israel!".
Erdogan also welcomed the ceasefire proposal as "very positive" and "precious".
"I hope this ceasefire will be secured," he said.
"But it appears that the blood of innocent Palestinian children is being exploited in the dirty politics of the Middle East," he said.
Erdogan is due to host Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas in Turkey for talks on Friday.
Erdogan sees himself as a champion of the Palestinian cause and is also keen to underline his credentials as a global Muslim leader ahead of 10 August presidential elections in which he is standing.
"You are no longer alone and will never be," said Erdogan, referring to the Palestinians.
3:30 pm: Kerry urges Hamas to accept ceasefire proposal
US Secretary of State John Kerry urged Hamas to accept Egypt's ceasefire proposal to halt fighting with Israel in the Gaza Strip, AFP reported.
In a brief statement released by the State Department on Tuesday, Kerry welcomed Israel's decision to accept the proposal.
"The Egyptian proposal for a ceasefire and negotiations provides an opportunity to end the violence and restore calm," Kerry said.
"We welcome the Israeli cabinet's decision to accept it. We urge all other parties to accept the proposal," he added.
Speaking to reporter in Vienna, Kerry said: "There are great risks of even an escalation of the violence," adding that the United States wanted to give an Egyptian ceasefire initiative time to work, but he was ready to fly back to Middle East "tomorrow" if needed.
2:56 pm: Israel will broaden military action if Hamas rejects ceasefire: Netanyahu
Israel sees in the Egyptian-proposed Gaza truce an opportunity to strip the Palestinian enclave of rockets but is prepared to redouble military action there if the cross-border launches persist, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday.
"We agreed to the Egyptian proposal in order to give an opportunity for the demilitarisation of the (Gaza) Strip - from missiles, from rockets and from tunnels - through diplomatic means," he told reporters.
"But if Hamas does not accept the ceasefire proposal, as would now seem to be the case, Israel would have all international legitimacy to broaden the military operation to achieve the required quiet."
2:33 pm: Hamas rocket hits port city in southern Israel
A Gaza rocket struck the southern port city of Ashdod on Tuesday, police said, just hours after Israel agreed to abide by an Egyptian truce that was rejected by Hamas.
"The rocket struck a yard outside a house in Ashdod, several people have been treated for shock," police spokeswoman Luba Samri said in a statement, AFP reported.
The attack was claimed by the armed wing of Hamas, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, which said it had fired "eight Grad rockets" at Ashdod, which is home to some 212,000 people.
There were no immediate reports from Gaza of a military response to the fire on Ashdod, which came after three mortar shells struck open areas near the southern flank of the Israel-Gaza border.
In a statement issued around the same time, Hamas said it did not consider itself obliged by the Egyptian proposal. "Because we were excluded from the consultations for this (truce) initiative, we are not obliged to abide by it," it said.
2:17 pm: Hamas closes border crossing with Israel
Hamas said Tuesday it has closed the Erez border crossing due to Israeli shelling, in a move that stranded a group of Palestinians planning to cross for medical treatment.
A group of about 20 Palestinians, some of whom were scheduled to enter Israel for cancer treatment, had arrived at the crossing early on Tuesday, an AFP correspondent said.
There was no immediate confirmation of the closure from COGAT, the Israeli defence ministry unit responsible for the crossing.
But a Hamas official at the site insisted the crossing was not open, and the gate leading to the tunnel that connects the Israeli and Gaza sides of the crossing was closed.
"The border has been closed because of constant Israeli shelling," he said.
The crossing area has been hit previously, but there were no reports of shelling on Monday or Tuesday.
A second official said the crossing would remain closed until they received international assurances that the terminal would be protected from Israeli air strikes.
"We need an international guarantee that the crossing, and the route between the two sides of the crossing, will not be bombed by Israel," he said.
2:09 pm: Israel says it will act forcefully if Hamas breaks ceasefire
After accepting the ceasefire plan proposed by Egypt, Israel said that will act forcefully if Hamas doesn't halt the rocket attacks.
The security cabinet will also undertake an international campaign to dismantle "Hamas' rocket stockpiles, and closing the tunnels inside Gaza," The Jerusalem Post reported.
The report also highlights the reason behind Israel's acceptance of the ceasefire plan -- military action from this point onward would be seen as legitimate.
"Diplomatic officials said the security cabinet's decision to halt the operation at this point will give Israel international legitimacy to continue with widespread military action if Hamas does not stop its rocket attacks," says The Jerusalem Post report.
1:47 pm: Gaza death toll rises to 192
The death toll from Israel's week-long campaign in Gaza rose Tuesday to 192, after another six Palestinians died, four of them in strikes before Israel accepted an Egyptian ceasefire.
Emergency services spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra said three people were killed in two separate air strikes on the southern city of Khan Yunis.
And two other men in the city succumbed to injuries sustained in earlier raids, he said.
Also in the south, a woman was killed in an earlier strike on Rafah, taking Tuesday's toll to six dead, he said.
All of the fatalities took place before Israel accepted a 0600 GMT ceasefire proposed by Egypt, despite its rejection by Hamas.
Israeli soldiers sleep on the ground next to an armoured personnel carrier (APC) outside the central Gaza Strip. AFP imageIsraeli soldiers sleep on the ground next to an armoured personnel carrier (APC) outside the central Gaza Strip.
Late Monday, the death toll rose above that of the previous major conflict between Israel and Hamas militants, an eight day confrontation in November 2012 which claimed the lives of 177 Palestinians and six Israelis.
So far, no Israelis have been killed in the week-long fighting in and around Gaza, with only four people seriously injured.
The Gaza-based Palestinian Centre for Human Rights said on Sunday, when the toll stood at over 150, that three quarters of the dead were civilians.
And on Monday, a senior UN official said more than a quarter were children.
The bloodiest day so far was Saturday when 56 Gazans were killed.
1:30 pm: Gaza militants fire 3 rockets despite truce call
The Israeli military says Gaza militants have fired three rockets at Israel since the deadline passed for the start of a cease-fire proposed by Egypt.
The attack came shortly after Israel accepted the Egyptian truce proposal, which Gaza's Hamas rulers swiftly rejected, Associated Press reported.
Under the Egyptian plan, hostilities were to halt by 9 am local time. The military says three rockets were fired at empty lands near the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon. The military says they caused no casualties or damage.
12:44 pm: Hamas rejects Egypt's ceasefire proposal moments after Israel's nod A senior Hamas official says the Palestinian militant group rejects an Egyptian proposal for a cease-fire with Israel.
The official, Sami Abu Zuhri, spoke moments after Israel accepted the offer on Tuesday. Abu Zuhri told The Associated Press that "this proposal is not acceptable."
The Egyptian plan calls for hostilities to end Tuesday morning, followed by negotiations on easing the border blockade of Gaza.
The territory has been under a blockade by Egypt and Israel since Hamas seized Gaza in 2007.
12:00 pm: Israel accepts Egypt's ceasefire proposal
Israel's security cabinet accepted an Egyptian ceasefire proposal, a government spokesman said, after a week of the deadliest violence in and around Gaza in years.
"The cabinet has decided to accept the Egyptian initiative for a ceasefire starting 9am today," Ofir Gendelman, spokesman for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said on Twitter. Ministers in the security cabinet had begun meeting early on Tuesday to consider the Egyptian proposal for a ceasefire to start immediately from 0600 GMT.
Army radio noted that there had been no parallel acceptance of the initiative by Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist movement that controls the Gaza Strip.
There were no immediate reports of rocket fire at Israel after the deadline, with the army saying only two rockets had struck the south overnight, and another two shot were shot down just 15 minutes before the Egyptian initiative came into force.
Overnight, Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhum told AFP there would be no truce without a fully fledged deal to end hostilities.
"In times of war, you don't cease fire and then negotiate," he said. Hamas's armed wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, also rejected the proposal as a "surrender", pledging to "intensify" its attacks on Israel.
8:45 am: Hamas rejects peace proposal as "surrender"
The armed wing of Hamas on Tuesday rejected Egyptian proposals for a ceasefire in Gaza, threatening to "intensify" its conflict with Israel if truce terms were unsatisfactory.
"No official or unofficial side has approached us about the ceasefire talked about in the media... (but) if the contents of this proposal are true, it is a surrender and we reject it outright," the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades said in a statement. "Our battle with the enemy will intensify."
8:38 am: US welcomes Egypt's peace plan for Gaza
The United States on Monday welcomed an an Egyptian proposal to end the raging conflict between Israel and Hamas.
"We welcome Egypt's call for a ceasefire and hope this will lead to the restoration of calm as soon as possible," State Department spokeswoman Jan Psaki said in a statement.
US President Barack Obama on Monday welcomed Egypt's proposal for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, saying he hoped it could restore calm.
At an Iftar dinner, marking the Muslim Holy month of Ramadan, Obama also said Israel had a right to defend itself against "inexcusable" rocket attacks but described the deaths of Palestinian civilians in the conflict as a "tragedy."
8:30 am: Arab League backs Palestinian demand for international protection
The Arab League on Monday called on "all parties" to accept an Egyptian proposal to end the raging conflict between Israel and Hamas, after the Palestinian militant group signalled its rejection of the truce.
The ministers, meeting for an extraordinary Arab League session, also backed a Palestinian demand for "international protection."
8:21 am: Israeli cabinet to meet to discuss Egyptian peace plan
Israel's security cabinet was to meet early Tuesday to discuss Egyptian proposals for a truce in Gaza, a senior official said, as an aerial campaign against Hamas entered its eighth day.
"The security cabinet will meet early tomorrow to study seriously the Egyptian proposals," the official told AFP, on condition of anonymity.
8:10 am: Lebanese rocket hits northern Israel
A rocket fired from Lebanese territory hit northern Israel on Monday, the army said, after overnight rocket fire from both Syria and Lebanon.
Smoke billows after an Israeli air strike in areas of southern Israeli border with the Gaza Strip. AFP imageSmoke billows after an Israeli air strike in areas of southern Israeli border with the Gaza Strip.
"At least one rocket fired from Lebanon hit an open area north of Nahariya," a coastal city not far from the Lebanese border, the army said in a statement.
No casualties or damage were reported, it added. The army said it responded shortly after with artillery fire "towards the launching site" of the rocket.
A rocket fired from Syria hit the Israeli-occupied sector of the Golan Heights late Sunday, falling on open ground and causing no casualties, the army said.
And early on Monday the army said that "several rockets were fired from Lebanon at the western Galilee, one hitting an open area," with no damage reported.
The army said Israel responded with artillery fire at Syrian military posts and that "hits were identified" and that it also shelled the source of the fire from Lebanon, lodging a complaint with UN peacekeepers.
Sunday's fire was the first of its kind from Syrian territory since Israel launched a fierce air campaign against Gaza on Tuesday with the stated aim of stemming a rising tide of rocket fire by Palestinian militants.
But rockets fired from Lebanon struck northern Israel on Friday and Saturday, without causing casualties. Military officials said they believed the attacks were carried out by a small Palestinian group in an act of solidarity with Gazan militants.
7:29 am: France steps up security after protestors storm synagogue
France stepped up security on Monday after protestors demonstrating against Israel's bombardment of Gaza tried to storm two Paris synagogues.
President Francois Hollande warned that he did not want to see "the Israeli-Palestinian conflict imported into France" after two Jewish men were hurt in clashes that erupted on Sunday.
Several thousand demonstrators joined in the Paris protest on Sunday, with violence breaking out at the end of the march on Bastille Square as people threw projectiles onto a cordon of police who responded with tear gas. A small group tried to break into two synagogues in central Paris, a police source told AFP.
The Jewish men were not badly hurt. Six policemen were also injured. In his traditional Bastille Day television interview, Hollande said he did not want the "consequences" of the conflict playing out in France, and would not tolerate such attacks.
"The conflict between Israel and Palestine cannot be used as an excuse for anti-Semitism." Joel Mergei, president of the Central Israeli Consistory -- the top Jewish religious authority in France, said the violence represented a "new low" after an earlier petrol bomb attack on a synagogue in the suburb of St Denis.
7:24 am: Egypt proposes ceasefire as Gaza death toll reaches 184
Egypt proposed a ceasefire in the conflict between Israel and its Islamist foe Hamas to start at 0600 GMT and be followed by talks on easing the flow goods into Gaza, AFP reported.
Relative carry a four-year-old Palestinian girl who was killed in an Israeli air strike in the northern Gaza Strip. Reuters imageRelative carry a four-year-old Palestinian girl who was killed in an Israeli air strike in the northern Gaza Strip. Reuters image
The proposal late on Monday came on the eve of a scheduled visit by US Secretary of State John Kerry to Egypt, a traditional broker in Palestinian-Israeli conflicts, to push for a halt to seven days of exchanges that have left 184 Gazans dead.
7:00 am:US warns Israel against ground assault in Gaza
Washington warned it's all Israel against any ground invasion of Gaza, as Egyptian officials said Secretary of State John Kerry was headed to the region to join efforts to end a week of deadly violence.
AFP reported that the White House stopped short of criticising Israel over the civilian casualty toll from its devastating air and artillery bombardment of the densely populated Palestinian enclave that has drawn flak from the United Nations and human rights watchdogs.
It said the Israeli government had the "right" and "responsibility" to defend its citizens against rocket attacks by its Islamist foe Hamas from its Gaza stronghold. But it said even more civilians would be put at risk were Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to heed hardliners in his governing coalition and send in troops and armour.
With Israel's punishing air campaign in its seventh day, the death toll in Gaza hit 177, prompting growing calls for a ceasefire which have so far showed little sign of progress
End of updates for 14 July
11:16 pm: Kerry to visit Egypt to facilitate truce in Gaza
US Secretary of State John Kerry will visit Egypt on Tuesday as pressure piles on Israel and Hamas to end a week-long conflict in Gaza, Egyptian state media reported.
The US top diplomat had telephoned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday to renew an offer to help broker a halt to the rocket fire by Gaza militants and the retaliatory Israeli air and artillery bombardment that has killed 175 Palestinians in the past seven days, AFP reported.
9:22 pm: Hamas lays out conditions for truce
The Palestinian Hamas movement said Monday that it would not end hostilities with Israel without concessions by the Jewish state and that no serious efforts towards a truce had been made.
"Talk of a ceasefire requires real and serious efforts, which we haven't seen so far," Hamas legislative member Mushir al-Masri told AFP in Gaza City. Masri said Hamas would only negotiate on the basis of a set of concessions it wants to see Israel agree to.
Those include the lifting of Israel's blockade on the Gaza Strip, the opening of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt and the release of Palestinian prisoners Israel has rearrested after freeing them in exchange for kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.
"Any ceasefire must be based on the conditions we have outlined, nothing less than that will be accepted," Masri said.
In Cairo, a Hamas official said a general framework had been agreed, and that the group was committed to achieving more than it did in the truce deal that ended the last major round of violence with Israel in 2012.
"We need to build on the 2012 truce and move forward. We don't want to go back," he said.
Masri said that "Arab countries and Islamic countries and Western countries" were involved in discussions about a truce, but declined to give details. He said Hamas was prepared to continue fighting and ready for a "long, drawn-out battle."
1:01 pm: PDP walks out of Lok Sabha protesting strikes in Gaza
Jammu and Kashmir People's Democratic Party today voiced grave concern over killing of "innocent" people, including children, in Gaza following attacks by Israel and staged a walkout in Lok Sabha, PTI reported.
As soon as the House met for the day, PDP leader Mehbooba Mufti wanted to raise the issue saying the House cannot remain silent over the killing of women, children and others in Gaza.
"Why are we silent? Whom are we afraid of? India is the only friend of Palestine since 1947. We have to condemn the attack. We have to discuss," she said, supported by party member Tariq Hameed Karra.
She was supported by E Ahamed (Indian Union Muslim League), Saugata Roy (Trinamool Congress) and P Karunakaran (CPI-M). Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, however, did not allow her to raise the issue saying she can not allow any discussion on the subject without receiving any notice.
"This is not the way. This is not fair. You have not given any notice. I cannot allow," Mahajan said. Unhappy with the Speaker's ruling, PDP members staged a walkout.
12:10 pm: Palestinian killed in clash with Israeli army in West Bank
A Palestinian was killed by the Israeli army in a clash south of the West Bank city of Hebron early on Monday, his family said.
Relatives identified the man as Munir Ahmed Badarin, in his early twenties.
They said he was shot in clashes near Al-Samua, in the southernmost part of the West Bank, and died later in hospital.
11:00 am: Israel claims it has downed an unmanned drone
Israel's military says it has downed an unmanned drone along its southern coastline, the first time it has encountered such a weapon since its struggle with Gaza Strip militants began last week.
The military says the drone came from Gaza and that it was shot down on Monday by a Patriot missile near the southern city of Ashdod.
8:00 am: Gaza death toll hits 172 as Israel's relentless campaign enters 7th day
Israel kept up air strikes and artillery fire on the Gaza Strip Monday despite diplomatic efforts to halt the bloodshed, as its offensive entered the seventh day, AFP reported.
Aircraft struck three training facilities of Hamas's military wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, around the coastal territory, but caused no casualties, medics and eyewitnesses said.
They also hit buildings in Gaza City, Deir el-Balah in the southern part of the strip, and in the northern town of Jabaliya, injuring an unspecified number of people.
There was shelling reported in Beit Lahiya, in the far north of the strip, where Israel had earlier warned residents of an impending assault.
Israel also moved against Hamas in the occupied West Bank, arresting at least five of the movement's lawmakers in Nablus and Jenin, Palestinian security officials told AFP.
Israeli media reported that a security cabinet meeting ended late Sunday with no orders for a ground assault. Israeli army radio quoted security sources "at the most senior level" as saying that there were "four channels for attempts to reach a ceasefire -- Qatar, the Palestinian Authority, the Americans and the Egyptians."
"According to those sources the Egyptian channel is the strongest, the most significant and the one that draws together all those channels of mediation," the station's military affairs reporter said.
As the death toll rose, the Gaza-based Palestinian Centre for Human Rights said most of the victims were civilians, putting their number at more than 130, among them 35 children and 26 women.
So far, no Israelis have been killed, although militants in Gaza have pounded the south and centre of the country with about 715 rockets since the fighting began on 8 July, an army spokeswoman told AFP late Sunday. Around 160 had been intercepted, she said.
11:22 pm: 17,000 Palestinians have fled Gaza, says UN
Fearing for their lives, about 17,000 people have taken shelter in installations of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, the agency said in a statement.
Despite increasing calls for a ceasefire, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the military was hitting Hamas "with growing force", warning there was no end in sight. "We do not know when this operation will end," he told ministers.
11:07 pm: UN chief deplores Palestinian deaths, urges Israel against ground offensive
"Too many" Palestinian civilians have been killed, UN chief Ban Ki-moon said Sunday as he urged Israel to scrap plans for a potentially devastating ground offensive.
Repeating his call for a ceasefire, the secretary-general said he "feels a sense of responsibility for the Palestinians who, especially in the Gaza Strip, have long been denied the sense of freedom and dignity that they deserve," according to a statement released by his spokesman Stephane Dujarric.
The situation in Gaza, with at least 170 Palestinians killed and no Israeli casualties, "appears to be worsening," Ban said, noting that the UN Security Council's call for a ceasefire had not been respected. Reiterating his condemnation of the firing of rockets into Israel by the Islamist movement Hamas that rules Gaza, Ban demanded an "immediate cessation of these indecent attacks."
But a "deeply worried" UN chief also stressed that "too many Palestinian civilians have been killed, and any Israeli ground offensive will undoubtedly increase the death toll and exacerbate civilian suffering in the Gaza Strip."
"It is in the interest of both sides that steps toward dangerous escalation be replaced with immediate measures to end the fighting, thus preventing further casualties and greater risks to regional peace and security," the statement added.
"(Ban) demands both sides move in this direction now."
6:45 pm: Rocket from Syria hits Israel-held Golan
A rocket fired from Syria hit the Israeli-occupied sector of the Golan Heights on Sunday, falling on open ground and causing no casualties, an army spokeswoman told AFP.
"The assumption is that it was not a stray," she said, although there was no immediate report of Israeli retaliation. An Israeli Arab teenager was killed on the border last month by what may have been a rocket, mortar fire or an explosive device, prompting Israel to carry out retaliatory air raids on Syrian army positions.
Sunday's incident was the first of its kind from Syrian territory since Israel on Tuesday launched a fierce air campaign on Gaza with the stated aim of stemming a rising tide of rocket fire by Palestinian militants.
Military officials said they believed the attacks were carried out by a small Palestinian group in an act of solidarity with Gazan militants.
4:40 pm: Kerry tells Netanyahu US prepared to mediate peace talks
US Secretary of State John Kerry on Sunday phoned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to renew a US offer to help mediate a truce as Israel stepped up its military campaign against the Gaza Strip.
Kerry "highlighted the US concern about escalating tensions on the ground," a senior State Department official said. The top US diplomat also told the Israeli leader that he was engaged with regional leaders "to help to stop the rocket fire so calm can be restored and civilian casualties prevented".
Kerry had condemned the militant rocket attacks from Gaza into southern Israel, and "stressed Israel's right to defend itself".
But he also "underscored the United States' readiness to facilitate a cessation of hostilities, including a return to the November 2012 ceasefire agreement." Despite increasing calls for a ceasefire, Netanyahu said the military was hitting Hamas "with growing force," warning there was no end in sight.
"We do not know when this operation will end," he told ministers. Top diplomats from Britain, France, Germany and the United States were due to discuss truce efforts in Vienna on Sunday on the sidelines of talks on Iran.
Britain's Foreign Secretary William Hague said earlier as he arrived for talks that "there is an urgent need to bring an end to the violence in Gaza."
Israel has warned that preparations are under way for a possible ground incursion, with Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman saying a decision was expected later Sunday, at a meeting of the security cabinet. But commentators said Israel was not in a rush to begin a ground operation.
3:53 pm: Palestinian prez asks for UN protection as Israel intensifies strikes
Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas is to ask the United Nations to put the state of Palestine under "international protection" in light of the worsening violence in the Gaza Strip, AFP reported the PLO as saying.
"President Abbas will present a letter to the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Robert Serry, addressed to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, to officially put the State of Palestine under the UN international protection system and to form a legal committee for immediate follow-up," it said in a statement.
Abbas also wants a commission of inquiry into Israel's massive air bombardment of the Gaza Strip in an attempt to halt militant rocket fire into the Jewish state. "Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas is undertaking several steps and measures to deal with the horrific situation in Gaza," senior Palestine Liberation Organisation member Hanan Ashrawi said in a statement after a meeting of the PLO executive.
Abbas has asked Switzerland, the depository of the fourth Geneva Convention on the protection of civilians in wartime, to summon the contracting parties and ask them to place sanctions on Israel as the occupying power responsible under the convention for the safety of civilians.
Its recognition by the UN as a non-member state has allowed Palestine to sign several international conventions, including the Geneva Conventions.
10:47 am: Israel's campaign in Gaza enters 6th day as death toll hits 166
Israeli strikes on Gaza killed a teenager and a woman on Sunday, medics said, raising the overall death toll to 166 as the punishing air campaign entered its sixth day, AFP reported.
One strike on the northern town of Jabaliya struck a house, killing a 14-year-old boy, emergency services spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra said. Shortly afterwards, another strike killed a woman in the Maghazi refugee camp in central Gaza, he said.
A man was killed in a raid on Beit Hanun in northern Gaza, where the Israeli army has warned it will sharply escalate its offensive and had urged residents to flee. Elsewhere another person succumbed to injuries from an earlier strike, Qudra said, giving an overall toll of 166 dead. More than 1,000 people have been wounded.
Witnesses in the southern city of Rafah also reported seeing gunmen killing a man in the middle of the street in what appeared to be the execution of someone suspected of collaborating with Israel.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility from any of Gaza's armed factions. Saturday was the bloodiest day by far of the operation, with 52 people killed.
The deadliest strike was in Gaza City just before midnight (2100 GMT) in the eastern Tuffah district where 18 people were killed in strikes that hit the house of Hamas police chief Tayseer al-Batsh and a mosque, medics said.
Batsh survived but was reportedly in critical condition, with around 50 people wounded in the strikes.
Israel began Operation Protective Edge before dawn on Tuesday in an attempt to halt cross-border rocket fire by militant groups. Since then, approximately 660 rockets have hit Israel, while another 173 were intercepted by the Iron Dome air defence system, the army said.
On Sunday, 30 rockets struck Israel, while another five were shot down, a spokeswoman said. No Israelis have been killed, and only three people have been seriously wounded since the start of the operation, one them a 16-year-old boy who was injured on Sunday during a strike on the coastal town of Ashkelon, medics said.
By Sunday morning, the Israeli military said it had struck 1,320 "terror targets" across Gaza, including 735 rocket launchers, 64 training bases and militant compounds, and 32 Hamas leadership facilities. More than 20 targets were hit overnight, the army said.
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| Gaza children whose relatives were killed by the IDF Thursday. |
The death toll in Gaza hit 248 early on Friday as Israel pressed a ground offensive on the 11th day of a massive operation to stamp out militant rocket fire.
The latest death included a man in Shejaiyeh, east of Gaza city, raising Friday's death toll to seven, emergency services spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra said.
According to figures provided by the Gaza-based Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, more than 80 percent of the victims were civilians.
At least 1,920 Palestinians have also been wounded.
08:38 am: Kerry urges Israel to conduct precise strikes
US Secretary of State John Kerry urged Israel on Thursday to limit collateral damage in Gaza, urging the Jewish state to be "precise" in its ground assault on the Palestinian enclave.
Hours before Kerry's phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel launched a ground operation aimed at hitting the Palestinian militant Hamas group. By the early morning hours Friday, the death toll in Gaza hit 247.
In his call with Netanyahu, Kerry "emphasized the need to avoid further escalation and to restore the 2012 ceasefire as soon as possible, reinforced our continuing commitment to the Egyptian initiative as the way to do so and underscored the importance of Hamas accepting this plan as soon as possible," a State Department statement said.
The Israeli leader, in turn, stressed to Kerry the "imminent threat" to Israeli civilians posed by
Hamas tunnels from the Gaza Strip to Israel, according to the statement.
Kerry "reaffirmed our strong support for Israel's right to defend itself against terrorist threats emanating from tunnels into Israel and expressed our view that this should be a precise operation to target tunnels," according to his office.
"The secretary also reiterated our concern about the safety and security of civilians on both sides and the importance of doing everything possible to prevent civilian casualties."
Hamas, the Islamist rulers of Gaza, had rejected a ceasefire intended to start on Tuesday and continued firing rockets at Israeli cities.
08:15 am: Palestinian President calls on Israel to halt ground ops
Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas called on Israel to stop its ground operation in the Gaza Strip, saying it will cause more bloodshed and complicate efforts to end the conflict, Egypt's official MENA news agency reported Friday.
Abbas' remarks came hours after Israel launched a ground operation aimed at hitting the Palestinian militant Hamas group, and as the death toll in Gaza hit 247 early on Friday.
"Israel must stop its (ground) operation in the Gaza Strip," MENA quoted Abbas as saying as he addressed a group of Egyptian intellectuals and journalists in Cairo.
"This operation would only lead to more bloodshed and complicate the situation and efforts to stop the (Israeli) aggression."
7:58 am: Israeli ground operation bound to fail, says Hamas
Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal said Friday that Israel's ground operation in Gaza was destined to fail, in remarks to AFP in the Qatari capital.
"What the occupier Israel failed to achieve through its air and sea raids, it will not be able to achieve with a ground offensive. It is bound to fail," Meshaal said from his exile in Doha.
A Hamas spokesman in Gaza said earlier "Israel will pay a high price" for launching the ground operation and that the Islamist Palestinian movement "is ready for the confrontation".
Meshaal said Hamas has "clear demands", including an end to "the aggression and collective punishment against our people in Gaza and in the West Bank, as well as the lifting of the Gaza siege."
He insisted that the "source of the problem lies with the Israeli occupation and the construction of settlements" which he said the Palestinian people are "determined to get rid of sooner or later". He did not elaborate.
The exile Hamas leader also called on the international community to "assume its responsibility and put an end to Israeli terrorism".
7:49 am: Egypt denounces Israeli 'escalation' in Gaza
Egypt's foreign ministry denounced Israel's "escalation" in Gaza after the start of a ground offensive late on Thursday, and again demanded both sides accept a Cairo proposed truce.
The ground operation after 10 days of Israeli bombardment of the coastal strip is aimed at hitting the Palestinian militant Hamas group, which rejected the truce and continued firing rockets into Israel after the Jewish State agreed to the ceasefire.
"Egypt condemns the Israeli escalation in Gaza and calls for self-control as its air strikes and ground operation only aggravate the situation and do not help preserve Israel's security," the foreign ministry said.
It said both Israel and Hamas must "immediately and unconditionally accept the Egyptian (ceasefire) proposal as it offers protection to the Palestinian people. It is the only way to halt the aggression and preserve the blood of our brotherly Palestinian people."
7:40 am: Israeli tank fire kills two including a baby
Israeli tank fire killed two people, including a five-month-old baby, in the southern Gaza city of Rafah early Friday, medics said.
Emergency services spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra announced the deaths as Israel said it was launching a ground operation after 10 days of conflict with the Palestinian Hamas group.
7:32 am: UN chief says Israel needs to "do far more" to spare civilians
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged Israel to "do far more" to spare Palestinian civilians after it launched a ground offensive in Gaza on Thursday.
"I regret that despite my repeated urgings, and those of many regional and world leaders together, an already dangerous conflict has now escalated even further," Ban told reporters.
The UN chief described as "appalling" the death of four boys killed by Israeli strikes Wednesday on a Gaza City beach.
"I urge Israel to do far more to stop civilian casualties. There can be no military solution to this conflict," he said.
Israel began a ground operation in Gaza on Thursday, on the 10th day of an offensive to stamp out rocket fire from the Hamas-run enclave that has had a heavy toll on Palestinian lives.
7:28 am: Israel approves the draft of 18,000 reserve soldiers
Israel approved early Friday the draft of 18,000 new reserve soldiers, the army said, as it launched a ground operation in the Gaza Strip.
"Following the approval of the government, the IDF increased the draft of reserve forces to 18,000 troops," the army said in a statement.
A spokeswoman told AFP the decision raised the overall number of soldiers called in since the start of Operation Protective Edge to 65,000, without saying how many of them had actually been mobilised.
7:19 am: Gaza toll hikes to 241
Four people were killed by Israeli fire in Gaza on Thursday night as the Jewish state announced a ground operation in the coastal enclave, medics said.
The deaths raised the Gaza toll in 10 days of violence to 241, emergency services spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra said.
The deaths included one man killed in shelling in southern Khan Yunis, and three killed by tank fire in east Gaza.
The three were a four-year-old child, a 15-year-old, and a man aged 26, Qudra said.
Their deaths came after a strike that killed three children in the Sabra neighbourhood of central Gaza -- Jihad, Waseem and Fulla from the Shuheiber family.
They were killed following the end of a five-hour humanitarian ceasefire, which brought some respite for residents of the besieged Palestinian territory.
Another strike shortly afterwards in the southern city of Khan Yunis killed four-year-old girl Rahaf al-Jubur, and a 29-year-old man, Hamza al-Abadleh.
And another child died of wounds sustained in an earlier strike in Gaza City, Qudra said.
7:10 am: Israel will pay for ground operation in Gaza, says Hamas
Israel will pay a "high price" for launching a ground invasion of the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian Hamas movement said on Thursday night.
"The start of the Israeli ground attack on Gaza is a dangerous step, the consequences of which have not been calculated," said Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhum in a statement.
"Israel will pay a high price and Hamas is ready for the confrontation."
"Following 10 days of Hamas attacks by land, air and sea, and after repeated rejections of offers to de-escalate the situation, the Israel Defence Forces (army) has initiated a ground operation within the Gaza Strip," the army said in a statement.
6:50 am: Israel launches ground offensive in Gaza
Israel launched a ground operation in Gaza late Thursday on the 10th day of an offensive to stamp out rocket attacks from the Palestinian enclave, the army said.
"Following 10 days of Hamas attacks by land, air and sea, and after repeated rejections of offers to deescalate the situation, the Israel Defence Forces (army) has initiated a ground operation within the Gaza Strip," it said in a statement.
The army said the aim of the operation is to protect Israeli lives and crush Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip.
"The IDF's objective as defined by the Israeli government is to establish a reality in which Israeli residents can live in safety and security without continues indiscriminate terror, while striking a significant blow to Hamas's terror infrastructure," the statement said.
Israel launched Operation Protective Edge on July 8 to stamp out rocket attacks from Gaza and the army said the new operation will include ground and air assaults.
"This stage of operation 'Protective Edge', led by the IDF's Southern Command, will include close coordination between IDF units including infantry, armoured corps, engineer corps, artillery, and intelligence combined with aerial and naval support," it said.
"This effort will also be supported by the Israeli Security Agency (ISA) and other intelligence organisations," the army added.
"In the face of Hamas' tactics to leverage civilian casualties in pursuit of its terrorist goals, the IDF will continue in its unprecedented efforts to limit civilian harm," it said.
At least 240 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli air strikes since July 8, many of them children, medics in Gaza said, with a NGO based in the coastal enclave saying 80 percent of the deaths are civilians.
6:45 am: Hamas could've saved lives by agreeing to truce
Egypt's foreign minister said Thursday that Hamas could have saved dozens of lives if it had accepted a Cairo-mediated truce earlier this week in its conflict with Israel.
"Had Hamas accepted the Egyptian proposal, it could have saved the lives of at least 40 Palestinians," Sameh Shoukri said, quoted by state news agency MENA.
6:38 am: Israel shoots down Hamas drone
Israel shot down a Hamas drone near the southern city of Ashkelon close to the Gaza border on Thursday, in the second such incident this week, the military said.
"Aircraft detected an unmanned plane and it was intercepted with a surface-to-air Patriot missile near Ashkelon," it said in a statement.
Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas which controls Gaza, said it launched the drone into the airspace of the "Zionist enemy".
On Monday, Hamas boasted that it had launched a drone flight deep into Israel, targeting the defence ministry in the heart of Tel Aviv.
The Israeli army confirmed it had shot down an unmanned aircraft but said it was intercepted well south of Tel Aviv.
6:21 am: Israeli tanks shell Gaza hospital for paralysed patients
Israeli tanks are shelling Gaza's Al-Wafa hospital, whose 14 patients include some who are paralysed or in a coma, and several people have been hurt, the facility's director said Thursday.
"Israeli tanks are shelling the hospital, they have hit several of the floors, and several nurses have been injured," director Basman Alashi told AFP.
The hospital in Gaza's Shejaiya district has come under Israeli fire several times before, and the Israeli military has called on Alashi and other doctors to evacuate it.
Alashi told AFP on Wednesday that it was almost impossible to move the patients, most of whom are immobile, and he questioned where they could go.
"There is no place safe in Gaza! If a hospital is not safe, where is?" he said.
On Thursday night, he said he was contacting other hospitals in Gaza to try to arrange ambulances to transport the 14 patients elsewhere after Al-Wafa came under renewed Israeli fire.
"But the ambulances are all in use, there is heavy shelling in many places," he said.
"And each patient has to be taken individually and carried because they cannot move."
"They are tearing the hospital apart, bit by bit."
6:19 am: Three dead in Israeli tank shelling
Three Palestinians were killed on Thursday in Israeli tank shelling in the east of the Gaza Strip, medics said.
There were no immediate details on the three, with emergency services spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra saying they were killed east of the Shejaiyeh area.
6:05 am: Egypt, Hamas mull donors conference to rebuild Gaza
Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas on Thursday mulled holding a donors conference to rebuild Gaza, the Egyptian presidency said.
Sisi and Abbas, who discussed ways to end the Israeli offensive on the Palestinian enclave, also agreed that Israeli crossings to the besieged Gaza be opened to facilitate movement of people and goods.
It was not clear whether they were also referring to Egypt's Rafah border crossing with Gaza, the only passage that bypasses Israel.
The two leaders met amid intensifying global efforts to end the deadly conflict as Israel and Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist movement that is the main power in Gaza, resumed their strikes, after a brief halt of hostilities Thursday on humanitarian grounds.
"The two presidents agreed on the urgency of holding a donors conference to immediately start rebuilding the Gaza Strip," a statement from the Egyptian presidency said.
It said Sisi and Abbas agreed on the "necessity of an immediate ceasefire" based on an Egyptian plan to stop the conflict that has killed at least 240 Palestinians since Israel launched Operation Protective Edge on July 8 to stamp out rocket fire from Gaza militants.
End of updates for 18 July
12:30 am: US asks Israel to do more to protect civilians
The United States on Thursday urged Israel to do more to protect civilians caught in the crossfire between the Jewish state and Hamas, after Israeli air strikes killed four children in Gaza.
"We ask (Israel) to redouble their efforts to prevent civilian casualties. We believe there is more
that can be done," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters.
12:09 am: Four more children dead in Gaza, death rises to 237
Israeli air strikes in Gaza killed four children on Thursday, medics said, after a humanitarian lull in a
10-day conflict that has killed 237 Palestinians.
One strike hit the Sabra neighbourhood of central Gaza, killing three children -- Jihad, Waseem and Fulla -- from the Shuheiber family, emergency services spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra told AFP.
Their deaths were the first to follow the end of a five-hour humanitarian ceasefire, which brought some respite for residents of the besieged Palestinian territory.
Another strike shortly afterwards in the southern city of Khan Yunis killed four-year-old girl Rahaf al-Jubur, and a 29-year-old man, Hamza al-Abadleh.
Before the ceasefire took effect at 10:00 (0700 GMT), Israeli tank fire killed three men in their twenties in the southern city of Rafah, Qudra said.
One Israeli has also been killed by rockets fired by Palestinian militants.
The Rafah deaths came after another seven Palestinians were killed overnight.
Two men were killed in Gaza City, another two in Deir al-Balah and a fifth in northern Beit Lahiya.
One man was also killed in southern Khan Yunis and another in Rafah, Qudra said.
In addition, 1,690 people had been injured during the conflict, Qudra said.
11:20 pm: French Foreign Minister to visit Egypt, Israel today
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius will travel on Friday to Egypt and Israel for talks aimed at bringing the deadly conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians to an end, President Francois Hollande said Thursday.
Fabius said on Wednesday that Europe was ready to take action to help bring about a ceasefire between the two parties.
11:08 pm: Three children among those dead in Israeli air strikes, death toll rises to 234
An Israeli air strike in Gaza killed three children on Thursday, medics said, after a humanitarian lull in a 10-day conflict that has killed 234 Palestinians.
The strike hit the Sabra neighbourhood in the centre of Gaza, killing three children from the same family, emergency services spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra told AFP.
Their deaths were the first to follow the end of a five-hour humanitarian ceasefire, requested by the UN, which brought some respite for residents of the besieged Palestinian territory.
Before the ceasefire took effect at 10:00 (0700 GMT), Israeli tank fire killed three men in their
twenties in the southern city of Rafah, Qudra said.
One Israeli has also been killed by rockets fired by Palestinian militants.
The Rafah deaths came after another seven people were killed overnight.
Two men were killed in Gaza City, another two in Deir al-Balah and a fifth in northern Beit Lahiya.
One man was also killed in southern Khan Yunis and another in Rafah, Qudra said.
In addition, 1,690 people had been injured during conflict, Qudra said.
10:30 pm: Hamas, Israel resume attacks after brief truce
Fierce fighting between Israel and Hamas resumed Thursday, including an airstrike that killed three Palestinian children feeding pigeons on their roof, after a temporary cease-fire that allowed Gazans to stock up on supplies.
The resumption of violence signaled major obstacles to Egyptian-led efforts to reach a permanent truce between the two sides, despite increased efforts by Egypt to broker a deal.
The UN-brokered five-hour lull in fighting gave residents of the Gaza Strip time to crowd into stores and vegetable markets after more than a week of being mostly holed up at home for fear of airstrikes.
But the streets emptied out quickly after the cease-fire expired, with Palestinian militants firing more than 50 rockets at Israel, including a heavy salvo toward the Tel Aviv area that sent people running for cover, the Israeli military said.
9:57 pm: Palestinian prez meets Egypt's Sisi over Gaza conflict
Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas met Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Thursday amid intensifying efforts to end the deadly Israeli military offensive on Gaza, a Palestinian official told AFP.
The talks came as Israel and Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist movement that is the main power in Gaza, resumed their strikes, after a brief halt of hostilities Thursday on humanitarian grounds.
More than 230 Palestinians have been killed since Israel launched Operation Protective Edge on 8 July to stamp out rocket fire from Gaza militants, medics say. An Israeli died in cross-border rocket fire.
Details of the meeting between Abbas and Sisi were not immediately available.
Cairo has once again become a diplomatic hub to end the fighting in Gaza after Egypt initially proposed a failed truce without consulting Hamas.
Abbas met in Cairo on Wednesday Hamas deputy leader Mussa Abu Marzuq, who insisted on changes to the Egyptian truce plan including guarantees on opening border crossings to the besieged Gaza Strip.
The initiative called for a return to an Egyptian-brokered 2012 ceasefire that ended eight days of fighting, and loosened border restrictions on goods for the blockaded coastal enclave.
Israel initially accepted the Egyptian initiative but later intensified its air strikes after Hamas rejected the plan, saying it had not been consulted.
9:48 pm: Lebanon files UN complaint against Israel
Lebanon filed a complaint on Thursday against Israel at the UN Security Council, saying it had violated its sovereignty by opening fire on its territory in retaliation for rocket attacks.
The foreign ministry said Israel fired 102 shells at Lebanon between 11 and 14 July, during the ongoing war between Israel and Gaza, describing this as "repeated and dangerous violations".
During that same period at least nine rockets were fired from south Lebanon into Israel.
Israel has responded with artillery fire.
The foreign ministry said Lebanon "rejects the firing of rockets (from its territory) on occupied Palestinian territory," in a reference to Israel.
This action "is a threat to peace and stability that serves neither Lebanon nor the Palestinian resistance, and gives Israel reason to attack Lebanon and its sovereignty," it added.
On Wednesday the Lebanese army announced that two Palestinian brothers suspected of involvement in rocket attacks on northern Israel had been arrested.
9:33 pm: Israel strikes Gaza as ceasefire ends
Israeli warplanes struck an open area in northern Gaza on Thursday afternoon in the first air strike since the end of a fragile five-hour truce, witnesses said.
The strike in Beit Lahiya hit an open area, causing no injuries, and came after the end of a UN-negotiated truce that Israel and Hamas accused each other of having violated.
9:25 pm: UN agency probing violation of international law after rockets found in Gaza school
The UN agency for Palestinian refugees UNRWA said Thursday it was investigating after finding 20 rockets hidden in one of its vacant schools in the Gaza Strip.
It condemned the incident as a "flagrant violation" of international law and said the rockets had been removed and the "relative parties" informed.
"Yesterday, in the course of the regular inspection of its premises, UNRWA discovered approximately 20 rockets hidden in a vacant school in the Gaza Strip," the agency said in a statement.
"UNRWA strongly condemns the group or groups responsible for placing the weapons in one of its installations," it continued.
"This is a flagrant violation of the inviolability of its premises under international law."
It said the incident was the first of its kind, warning that it "endangered civilians including staff and put at risk UNRWA's vital mission."
The statement said UNRWA "informed the relevant parties and successfully took all necessary measures for the removal of the objects."
"UNRWA has launched a comprehensive investigation."
Israel regularly Hamas and other Gaza militants of using civilian installations to store and launch rockets, including during the current conflict that began on July 8.
7:57 pm: Turkish PM Erdogan accuses Israel of trying 'systematic genocide' in Gaza
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday accused Israel of attempting a "systematic genocide" of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, his strongest attack yet on the Jewish state over its air campaign in the territory.
"We are witnessing this systematic genocide every Ramadan. The Western world remains silent, so does the Islamic world," Erdogan told a meeting of Islamic scholars in Istanbul to mark the holy Muslim fasting month of Ramadan. "Because those who lost their lives are Palestinian, you can't hear their voices," he added.
6:43 pm: Rockets fired from Gaza hit Israeli city
A rocket fired from Gaza hit the Israeli city of Ashkelon on Thursday, the army said, just as a five-hour lull in 10 days of Israel-Hamas fighting ended.
The rocket hit at exactly 3:00 pm (1200 GMT), the army said in a statement, after the two sides had agreed to cease hostilities on humanitarian grounds for five hours from 0700 GMT, at the request of the UN, AFP reported.
5:24 pm: Hamas denies reports that ceasefire agreement has been reached
A Hamas official denied that a ceasefire deal with Israel had been reached, rejecting claims from an Israeli official that they had agreed to halt fire early Friday.
"The news about a ceasefire is incorrect. There are continuing efforts but no agreement until now," Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri told AFP on Thursday.
The denial came after an Israeli official who spoke to AFP on condition of anonymity said the Jewish state had agreed a ceasefire with Hamas that would begin at 0300 GMT on Friday.
4:42 pm: Hamas, Israel agree on fresh ceasefire
Israel and the Islamist Hamas movement have agreed on a ceasefire that will begin at 0300 GMT on Friday, an Israeli official told AFP on Friday.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said that Israel and Hamas "have agreed upon a ceasefire that will begin at 6:00 am tomorrow".
4:15 pm: Israel charges three Jews for kidnapping and murder of Palestinian teen
Israeli prosecutors indicted three Jews on Thursday over the kidnapping and murder of a Palestinian teenager burned to death earlier this month, the justice ministry said.
AFP reported that the identity of those charged was not disclosed by the ministry, which simply stated that one was a 19-year-old from the West Bank settlement of Adam and the others were aged 16 and from the same family.
Mohammed Abu Khder, 16, was kidnapped from east Jerusalem on July 2 and burned to death in a suspected revenge attack for the abduction and killing of three Israeli teenagers.
3:57 pm: Over 230 dead in Gaza over 10 days of violence
Israeli tank fire killed three people in the Gaza Strip on Thursday, medics said, as the overall death toll from 10 days of violence in the Palestinian territory rose to 231.
One Israeli has also been killed by rockets fired by Palestinian militants.
Gaza emergency services spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra said the three, all men in their 20s, were killed in southern Rafah shortly before 10:00 am (0700 GMT).
Their deaths came after another seven people were killed overnight.
Two men were killed in Gaza City, another two in Deir al-Balah and a fifth in northern Beit Lahiya.
An Israeli mobile artillery unit fires towards Gaza from outside the northern Gaza Strip, before the start of a five-hour humanitarian ceasefire. Reuters imageAn Israeli mobile artillery unit fires towards Gaza from outside the northern Gaza Strip, before the start of a five-hour humanitarian ceasefire.
One man was also killed in southern Khan Yunis and another in Rafah, also in the south, Qudra said.
Another man injured by a strike in Rafah on Wednesday died of his wounds on Thursday.
In addition, 1,690 people had been injured during conflict, Qudra said.
Israel and the Hamas movement announced Thursday they were observing a five-hour humanitarian truce called for by the United Nations.
According to figures provided by the Gaza-based Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR), more than 80 percent of the conflict's victims have been civilians.
So far, one person has been killed in Israel -- a civilian who died on Tuesday evening in a rocket strike near the Erez crossing, medics said. At least four Israelis have been seriously wounded.
Since the latest violence began before dawn on July 8, at least 1,021 rockets fired from Gaza have struck Israel, and another 256 have been shot down by the Iron Dome air defence system, army figures show.
During its campaign of air strikes aimed at halting the rocket fire, Israel has struck more than 1,750 "terror targets" across the coastal enclave, the army said.
3:30 pm: Gazans scurry to take advantage of brief ceasefire
After days of empty streets and shuttered shops, Gaza City sprang back to life during a fragile UN-negotiated humanitarian truce between Hamas and Israel to halt cross-border fire.
The Islamist movement and Israel began observing the five-hour ceasefire at 0700 GMT, after 10 days of violence that has killed at least 230 Palestinians and one Israeli.
And hours later the ceasefire appeared to be holding despite reports that three mortar rounds fired from Gaza hit southern Israel.
The people of Gaza City immediately took advantage, taking to the streets in their cars and forcing police to try to negotiate the traffic jams that suddenly formed.
And outside banks in the city, crowds of hundreds of people massed on ATMs, eager to withdraw
money to buy supplies before the five-hour truce ends at 1200 GMT.
"I've been borrowing money from people to get by, and now I'm going to be able to pay them back," said Abdul Qassam Ataneh, waiting outside a branch of the Bank of Palestine.
"The truce is a chance for people to get out of their homes and get money and supplies.
"Ramadan comes with a lot of expenses," he added, in reference to the ongoing Muslim month of fasting.
But two and a half hours into the truce, three mortar rounds were fired from Gaza into the southern Israeli region of Eshkol, the Israeli military said.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility from militants in Gaza.
Before the mortar attack, Mohamed Nasr said he was happy with the brief truce, but wished the hours were longer.
"It's not enough. People need to go out and get supplies and to get their belongings. It should have been from 7:00 am until dusk," he told AFP.
"We've been stuck in our houses during this war, because of the violence. It's like living under curfew."
3:00 pm: Mortar shells from Gaza hit Israel two hours after ceasefire takes effect
Israel's military says three mortar shells were fired from Gaza after a humanitarian ceasefire went into effect.
Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld had earlier said two rockets fell in open areas in southern Israel, causing no damage or injuries. He said the rockets landed at 12 pm local time, two hours after the cease-fire began.
The army later said in a statement that the attack consisted of three mortar shells.
It was not immediately clear whether the Israeli military would respond.
2:56 pm: Egypt says Gaza ceasefire proposal gaining momentum
Egypt's foreign minister says its proposal for a cease-fire between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas is gaining momentum, calling it the only viable way to stop an "intolerable humanitarian situation" in Gaza.
"The plan has been widely endorsed by the Arab League, it has been endorsed by the European Union... and it continues to gain momentum in terms of recognition," Sameh Shukri said Thursday in an interview with The Associated Press.
The plan, which includes easing access to Gaza, was accepted by Israel this week but rejected by Hamas, which said it had never been consulted, a claim Shukri denied.
1:24 pm: Five-hour ceasefire begins
Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas began observing a temporary five-hour humanitarian ceasefire, both sides said, on the 10th day of conflict between the sides.
"We are holding our fire until 3:00 pm (1200 GMT) today in order to enable a humanitarian window in Gaza. If Hamas fires, we will respond with force," Israel's army said on its Twitter account.
"All the factions including Hamas are implementing what they announced, a stop to the operations of the resistance," he told AFP.
"We and all factions will follow and observe the occupation's implementation of this temporary truce," he added.
Israel and Hamas agreed on Wednesday to abide by a five-hour humanitarian truce, from 0700 to 1200 GMT, as requested by the United Nations.
It brought temporary reprieve from nine days of fighting in which 230 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli strikes, and one Israeli killed by a rocket attack.
No aid is expected to enter Gaza during the pause in fighting, but it will give thousands of Palestinians who have fled their homes the chance to return, albeit briefly.
And aid officials said the ceasefire would allow them to access areas previously off-limits because of ongoing fighting.
1:00 pm: Israeli tank strike Gaza killing 3 minutes before truce came into effect
Israeli tank fire hit a house in southern Gaza on Thursday, killing three people, minutes before a five-hour truce went into effect, medics said.
Emergency services spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra said four other people were seriously wounded in the attack on the house in Rafah.
12:36 pm: Bill Clinton says Israel isolating itself from world opinion
Former US president Bill Clinton has warned Israel about "isolating itself from world opinion" due to repeated conflicts in Gaza after four children were killed on a beach in the latest violence.
More than 220 Palestinians, most of them civilians, have died during 10 days of Israeli bombing and shelling in Gaza in retaliation for over 1,200 rocket attacks from Hamas militants.
"Over the long run it is not good for Israel to keep isolating itself from world opinion because of the absence of a viable peace process," Clinton told NDTV.
"In the short to medium term, Hamas can inflict terrible public relations damage on Israel by forcing it to kill Palestinian civilians to counter Hamas," he added.
Hamas had a "strategy designed to force Israel to kill their own (Palestinian) civilians so the rest of the world will condemn them," while Israel couldn't "look like fools" by not responding to the heavy missile attacks.
Clinton, who pushed hard while president for a comprehensive peace deal at a Camp David summit in 2000, urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to resume serious talks.
"I believe that Prime Minister Netanyahu could and should make a comprehensive peace agreement with the Palestinians," he said, adding that he believed 60 percent of Israelis would support him.
The objective of all should be "a peace process that gets Israel security recognition and peace and that gets the Palestinians their state," he said.
11:42 am: Israel says it has thwarted attack by 13 Gaza infiltrators
The Israeli army said it foiled an "infiltration" into southern Israel by Gaza militants on Thursday, shortly before a humanitarian ceasefire with Hamas took effect.
"This morning our forces successfully foiled a terror attack," army spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Peter Lerner told journalists in a telephone briefing.
Thirteen militants emerged from a tunnel under the southern Gaza border, and were headed towards Sufa kibbutz, a small community just over a kilometre (mile) away, when they were spotted, Lerner said.
Israel forces killed at least one of the militants in an air raid, he said, leaving the rest scurrying back towards the tunnel.
There were no details of any other deaths or injuries, and there were no casualties on the Israeli side, Lerner said.
Hamas's armed wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, claimed in a statement that it was behind the "operation".
But it denied any of its members had been killed in an air strike, instead saying they had completed their "mission" at 4:00 am (0100 GMT) before retreating back to the tunnel.
It did not elaborate on the aim of the mission.
9:50 am: Photo shows terrified children running from shelling moments before they were killed
The New York Times posted a photo of terrified children running as Israeli shells hit a Gaza beachfront, killing four of them. Captured by a local media organisation, the photo shows the beachfront and four children running amid shelling:
8:59 am: Palestinian-American teen beaten up by Israeli authorities returns to the US
The Palestinian-American teen who relatives allege was beaten by Israeli authorities earlier this month has arrived home in Florida.
Tariq Abu Khdeir told supporters at Tampa International Airport late Wednesday that their prayers had gotten him through his ordeal.
Officials with the Council on American-Islamic Relations say the 15-year-old suffered head trauma and had to receive stitches on his face.
Israeli authorities investigated what they say was his participation in violent protests over the death of his cousin, 16-year-old Mohammed Abu Khdeir. His family denied that he participated in the protests.
Palestinians suspect Mohammed Abu Khdeir was killed by Israeli extremists exacting revenge for the abduction and killings of three Israeli teens in the West Bank last month.
7:44 am: Hamas agrees to five-hour humanitarian ceasefire
Hamas on Thursday agreed to join a temporary Gaza ceasefire requested by the United Nations on humanitarian grounds.
"The group agrees to a ceasefire for five hours," starting from 10:00 am (0700 GMT) Thursday, Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zukhri said in a statement.
Earlier the Israeli military said it had accepted a UN request to halt its attacks on the Gaza Strip in what a senior United Nations official called a "humanitarian pause".
"Between 10:00 and 15:00 (0700-1200 GMT), the Israel Defence Forces will cease operational activity within the Gaza Strip and hold its fire," an army statement said.
Abu Zukhri said the same.
"The Palestinian factions agreed to accept the offer from the United Nations for a cooling-down on the ground for five hours starting from 10 in the morning," he told AFP.
"It is in the interest of all the citizens of Gaza, in order to give them a chance to go to the hospital, get health care or get food," UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East peace process, Robert Serry, told Israel's Channel Two television on Wednesday evening.
7:30 am: EU leaders urge Israel to show restraint
EU leaders on Wednesday condemned the firing of rockets into Israel while urging the Jewish state to "act proportionately" and Hamas to agree to a ceasefire.
Voicing "great concern" over continued violence in Israel and Gaza, EU leaders said the bloc "condemns the firing of rockets from Gaza into Israel and the indiscriminate targeting of civilians."
"Israel has the right to protect its population (but) in doing so it must act proportionately and ensure the protection of civilians at all times," a European Union statement added.
Issued at a summit, it said the 28-nation bloc "deeply deplores the loss of innocent lives and the high number of wounded civilians in the Gaza Strip as a result of Israeli military operations."
"The European Council calls on both sides to de-escalate the situation, to end the violence, to end the suffering of the civilian populations notably by allowing access to humanitarian assistance, and return to calm."
Welcoming regional efforts to broker a truce, notably by Israel, the EU "calls on Hamas to agree on such a ceasefire," it added.
6:47 am: Israel heeds UN, says it will ceasefire for six hours
The Israeli army said it has agreed to a UN request to halt its attacks on the Gaza Strip for five hours on Thursday on humanitarian grounds.
"Between 10:00 and 15:00 (0700-1200 GMT), the Israel Defence Forces will cease operational activity within the Gaza Strip and hold its fire," it said, correcting an earlier statement which spoke of a six-hour break.
UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East peace process, Robert Serry, earlier told Israel's Channel Two television, that he had asked the military for a "humanitarian pause" in its Gaza offensive and that, if it agreed, he would ask Gaza militants to follow suit.
"If it happens, I will also call on Hamas and other militant factions to reciprocate, stop firing rockets and respect the humanitarian pause," his spokeswoman quoted him as telling the television.
"It is in the interest of all the citizens of Gaza, in order to give them a chance to go to the hospital, get health care or get food."
Hamas said it was considering the request.
"Hamas has been informed about the UN proposal for a truce of several hours tomorrow," Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri told AFP.
"The proposal is being studied and when a decision has been taken it will be announced officially in a statement."
6: 19 am: Hamas demands changes to Egypt's peace proposal
Hamas demanded changes Wednesday to an Egyptian proposal to end the deadly conflict with Israel in and around Gaza, a Palestinian official said.
Hamas's demand came as the Palestinian death toll from Israel's punishing air campaign, now in its ninth day, rose to 220 Palestinians dead after the Islamist movement snubbed the truce plan on Tuesday even though it was briefly respected by Israel.
Hamas deputy leader Mussa Abu Marzuq met Egyptian officials in Cairo and set out the changes being sought, said Azzam al-Ahmad, a senior figure in Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas's Fatah movement.
"Hamas has rejected the proposal in its current form and demanded additions, like applying the 2012 agreement concerning border crossings with Israel, and demanded right for fishing up to 12 miles into the sea," Ahmad told reporters in Cairo.
Relatives of the four Palestinian children from the Baker family killed by a shell fired by an Israeli naval gunboat, mourn during their funeral in Gaza City. Reuters imageRelatives of the four
Senior Hamas official Ghazi Hamad told AFP in Gaza City that the Egyptian plan was rejected "in its current form" and that Hamas had notified Egypt of the changes it was seeking.
"The initiative should include clear wording on fully lifting the blockade on Gaza, including opening all the crossings and releasing the rearrested prisoners from the (Gilad) Shalit deal in the West Bank," Hamad said.
He was referring to a 2011 deal under which Shalit, an Israeli soldier held by Gaza militants for more than five years, was freed in exchange for scores of Palestinian prisoners.
Earlier this week, Egypt proposed a ceasefire to start at 0600 GMT Tuesday and be followed by talks on easing the flow of goods into Gaza.
Israel initially accepted the Egyptian initiative, but later intensified its air strikes aimed at stamping out rocket fire by Gaza militants after Hamas rejected the plan.
Another Palestinian official said that Hamas and other factions were objecting to the term "hostilities" in the Egyptian initiative, complaining that "what they are doing is self-defence and resisting the occupation, but what the occupation is doing is aggression".
He said he hoped there would be "meetings between Egypt and the factions as soon as possible to adjust the wording of the initiative and get to a ceasefire".
Meanwhile, the Palestinian president flew into Cairo on Wednesday to join the diplomatic efforts for an end to the violence.
He held talks with Abu Marzuq and was due to meet Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukri and Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi later, Ahmad said.
On Thursday, he is due to meet President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.
Middle East peace Quartet envoy Tony Blair held talks on Wednesday with Sisi and Shoukri, on his second visit to Cairo in a week to discuss the Gaza conflict.
Blair said Egypt's initiative was designed "to allow all the issues that are at the heart of this problem .. to be dealt with in a thorough and proper way."
"There are demands by Hamas in respect of Gaza and there are demands by Israel in respect of security," he said.
"But the purpose of this initiative is to allow people to come and discuss those issues, but in the meantime for the violence to stop and for the lives of the innocent to be saved," Blair said at a joint news conference with Shoukri.
Shoukri said Egypt's proposal aimed at "stopping military actions in order to address the situation in Gaza in the medium and long terms, and to give an opportunity to resume the peace process."
6:04 am: Killing of children on beachfront tragic: Israeli Army
The army said the killing of four Palestinian children on a Gaza beachfront Wednesday appeared to be the "tragic outcome" of an Israeli strike targeting Hamas militants.
"Based on preliminary results the target of this strike was Hamas terrorist operatives," the military said in a statement. "The reported civilian casualties from this strike are a tragic outcome."
6:00 am: Doing everything in our power to end Gaza bloodshed
The United States is doing "everything in our power" to end the bloodshed in the Gaza Strip, Secretary of State John Kerry said Wednesday, as he kept up contacts with regional leaders.
"Our concern is to have a legitimate ceasefire and see if we can find a way to stop the conflict and killing so we can get to the real issues that are underlying it," Kerry told reporters as he met his counterpart from Luxembourg.
"And we're doing everything in our power," said Kerry, adding that he has been speaking to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Arab officials.
The State Department said that Kerry in the past day has spoken to the foreign ministers of Egypt as well as Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, which are seen as holding influence with Hamas, and to Arab League Secretary General Nabil al-Arabi.
Kerry, who has spent much of his tenure seeking unsuccessfully to negotiate a lasting peace agreement, is open to returning to the region if he would be useful, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters.
Psaki declined to criticize US ally Israel over the latest violence, in which four children died and several others were wounded in an apparent naval bombardment of a beach in GazaCity, saying the United States was not in a position to confirm the situation on the ground.
But Psaki said: "The loss of lives for children and individuals in Gaza is horrific and is a tragedy, and that's why we're so focused on bringing an end to the violence."
--End of updates for 16 July--
10:40 pm: Gaza ground invasion likely to happen, says Israeli official
In a clear indication that Israel is seriously considering ground strikes on Gaza, a senior Israeli military official told New York Times that chances of such a possibility was "very high", and that "if you want to efficiently fight terrorism you must be present, boots on the ground".
The New York Times reported: "The official, who has been briefing Israeli ministers who make strategic decisions, said his assessment was based on "the signals I get" and the diminishing returns of aerial bombardment after nine days. He said an Israeli takeover of Gaza is "not a huge challenge," estimating it would take "a matter of days or weeks," but that preventing a more dangerous devolution in the coastal enclave would require an occupation “of many months."
10:30 pm: Israeli naval shelling kills 4 boys on Gaza beach - medics
Israeli shelling killed four boys on a Gaza beach on Wednesday, a local health official said, and Palestinian militants fired a further 70 rockets into Israel after a failed Egyptian attempt to halt more than a week of warfare.
Israel urged the evacuation of several districts in the Gaza Strip where more than 100,000 people live, threatening ground operations to try to stem the rocket attacks.
An Israeli official said the defence minister asked Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's security cabinet to authorise the mobilisation of another 8,000 reserve troops. The military has said that around 30,000 reservists have been called up since the Israeli offensive began a week ago.
Israeli experts predicted overland raids in the Gaza Strip to destroy command bunkers and tunnels that have allowed the outgunned Palestinians to withstand air and naval barrages and keep the rockets flying.
The Hamas political leadership formally rejected Cairo's ceasefire plan on Wednesday, a spokesman for the Islamist group said, a day after its armed wing spurned it and kept up rocket salvoes at Israel, which held its fire for six hours on Tuesday.
Ashraf al-Qidra of the Gaza Health Ministry said shelling from an Israeli gunboat off Gaza's Mediterranean coast killed four boys - two aged 10 and the others 9 and 11 - from one family and critically wounded another youngster on the beach.
An Israeli military spokesman had no immediate comment. Netanyahu says the armed forces try to avoid civilian casualties but that militant rocket crews deliberately put non-combatants at risk by operating in densely populated residential areas.
Ahmed Abu Hassera, who witnessed the incident at the shore, told Reuters: "The kids were playing on the beach. They were all ... under the age of 15."
Israeli shelling has frequently targeted Gaza beaches, which are suspected staging areas for militants.
"When the first shell hit land, they ran away but another shell hit them all," said Abu Hassera, whose shirt was stained with blood. "It looked as if the shells were chasing them."
Reacting to the incident, Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri told reporters in Gaza: "These crimes will not succeed to break our will. We will continue the confrontation and resistance and we promise (Israel) will pay the price for all these crimes."
Gaza's Al-Mezan Center for Human rights said 259 houses had been demolished by Israeli air strikes and 1,034 damaged along with 34 mosques and four hospitals.
3:42 pm: On day 9 of Israeli strikes, Gaza death toll rises to 208
A woman and a child were among three people killed in an Israeli strike on southern Gaza on Wednesday, raising the overall death toll to 208, the emergency services said.
The latest raid took place in the southern city of Khan Yunis, killing three people from the Abu Daqqa family and wounding another five people, Ashraf al-Qudra said.
Among the dead was a 10-year-old boy and a 65-year-old woman, with witnesses saying the missile struck a car in Bani Suheila in the eastern part of the city.
The strike raised Wednesday's death toll to 11, with all the victims killed in the southern Gaza Strip.
Earlier, a strike on a house in Rafah, which straddles Gaza's southern border with Egypt, killed two men, and shortly afterwards, another young man was killed in a second strike, with witnesses identifying him as an Islamic Jihad militant.
A third strike on the city killed another man, Qudra said.
Meanwhile in Khan Yunis, a missile struck the house of Mohammed al-Arjani, killing his 19-year-old son Abdullah.
About an hour later, tank fire from inside Israel hit the eastern part of Khan Yunis, killing one person, Qudra said.
Shortly afterwards, another member of the Abu Daqqa family was also killed in the same area, he said, identifying him as Mahmud Abu Daqqa, 33.
Wednesday's air strikes raised the overall toll from Israel's nine-day operation to 208 Palestinians, with more than 1,550 injured.
According to figures provided by the Gaza-based Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR), more than 80 percent of the victims were civilians.
2:51 pm: Woman and Child among the three killed
A woman and a child were among three Palestinians killed on Wednesday in a fresh Israeli air strike in the southern Gaza Strip, an emergency services spokesman said.
In a statement, Ashraf al-Qudra confirmed three people from the Abu Daqqa family had been killed in a strike in Khan Yunis, including a 65-year-old woman and a 10-year-old boy.
Witnesses told AFP the missile struck a car in the eastern Bani Suheila neighbourhood.
2:28 pm: Three Palestinians killed in fresh Israeli raids
Three Palestinians were killed on Wednesday in a fresh Israeli air strike in the southern Gaza Strip, an emergency services spokesman said.
Witnesses told AFP the missile struck a car in the southern city of Khan Yunis, with emergency services spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra confirming three people had been killed and another five wounded.
11:30 am: Israeli military warns 100,000 Gazans to leave homes
The Israeli army has warned some 100,000 Palestinians in the eastern Gaza Strip to evacuate their homes, military sources said Wednesday.
AFP correspondents saw flyers dropped over the Zeitun neighbourhood southeast of Gaza City, and residents there and elsewhere also reported receiving recorded phone and text messages urging them to evacuate by 0500 GMT.
8:10 am: Gaza death toll crosses 200
New Israeli air strikes in Gaza early Wednesday killed several people, medics said, bringing the death toll from Israel's operation in the besieged Palestinian territory to 203.
A strike on a house in the southern city of Rafah killed two men, emergency services spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra told AFP, and a separate raid killed a young man who witnesses said was an Islamic Jihad militant.
Another Rafah strike shortly afterwards left one man dead, Qudra said, while a raid on the home of Mohammed al-Arjani in the southern city of Khan Yunis killed his son Abdullah, 19.
About an hour later, tank fire from inside Israel hit the eastern part of Khan Yunis, killing on person, Qudra said.
Some of the first raids on Wednesday morning targeted homes of senior Hamas officials, including Mahmud al-Zahar, but there were no reports of casualties in those strikes.
7:58 am: Israel targets Hamas leader's house
Israeli warplanes bombed the house of senior Hamas leader Mahmud al-Zahar on Wednesday, security officials said, on day nine of an operation against militants in the besieged Palestinian territory.
There was no one in the house, in western Gaza City, at the time the air strike hit, the security sources and witnesses said, adding that the homes of other Hamas officials were targeted in separate raids.
7:30 am: Three more Palestinians killed, death toll rises to 197
With US ally Israel facing a barrage of rocket attacks from Gaza, a Senate panel on Tuesday approved a 50 percent funding boost for the Jewish State's Iron Dome anti-missile system.
The measure, if it becomes law, would provide $621.6 million for Israeli missile defense programs for the 2015 fiscal year starting in October, including $351 million for the short-range Iron Dome system that has been put to the test over the past eight days amid a raging conflict between Israel and Hamas.
Congress appropriated $235 million to Iron Dome last year.
The White House had requested about $176 million for the system for 2015, but lawmakers doubled the amount. Congress often increases funding for Israeli security projects sought by the president.
The funding is part of the administration's request of $3.1 billion for military assistance to Israel, the world's largest beneficiary of US foreign aid.
In May, the House of Representatives adopted its own National Defense Authorization Act, which matches the Senate's Iron Dome funding proposal.
The Senate measure is part of an overall Defense Department spending bill backed by the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee Tuesday that commits $549.3 billion to military operations for 2015.
The package keeps several Pentagon projects that had been on the chopping block, including the tank-killing A-10 planes Senator John McCain described as "the best close-air support weapon in our nation's arsenal."
7:24 am: Three more Palestinians killed, death toll rises to 197
Three Palestinians were killed in two Israeli air strikes on the Gaza Strip on Tuesday night, raising the toll in eight days of violence to 197 deaths, medics said.
One strike killed two men in a car in southern Rafah, and a second in central Johr al-Deeq killed one man, emergency services spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra said.
7:18 am: When there is no cease-fire, our answer is fire: Netanyahu
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged to ramp up Israel's military campaign against Gaza, after an Egyptian truce plan failed to end eight days of cross-border fire.
"This would have been better resolved diplomatically, that's what we tried to do when we accepted the Egyptian truce proposal today," he said.
"But Hamas leaves us no choice but to expand and intensify the campaign against it," Netanyahu said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. AFP ImageIsraeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
"That's how we will act till we achieve our goal of bringing quiet to Israel's citizens, while significantly harming the terror group," he said of the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas which controls Gaza.
"When there is no cease-fire, our answer is fire,” the Washington Post quoted him as saying in his televised address.
In televised remarks, Netanyahu also addressed criticism from members of his cabinet earlier in the day, when Foreign Minister Avidgor Lieberman slammed the Israeli acceptance of the Egyptian truce and Netanyahu's "hesitance", saying Israel should conquer Gaza and expel Hamas from it.
"These are moments when decisions must be made coolly and with patience, not hastily or noisily," Netanyahu said.
"I'm determined to do the right thing, I know you trust me to ignore the background noises and focus on the main mission to safeguard you and your lives."
Shortly after Netanyahu's remarks, his bureau announced he had fired deputy defence minister Danny Danon, a firebrand member of his Likud party, who became a vocal critic of Netanyahu during the operation, calling him a "failure" and saying Hamas was controlling the conflict.
"It is inconceivable that the deputy defence minister will attack the country's leadership leading the campaign," a statement read.
"The severe remarks show a lack of responsibility... and even are used by Hamas terror group to slam the government, as evident in their communication networks," it said.
Meanwhile, speculation remained rife over a possible ground incursion, with no conclusive remarks from Israeli officials but a pledge to carry one out if the need arose.
"The army renewed its attacks and will increase them as much as necessary, in the air, sea and land, according to our orders," the armed forces chief of staff, Lieutenant General Benny Gantz, said after Netanyahu's remarks.
7:07 am: First Israeli killed as conflict enters 9th day
A rocket fired from Gaza killed an Israeli civilian on Tuesday, the army said, the first Israeli death in eight days of cross-border violence.
The man was fatally wounded near the Erez crossing into Gaza, the army said.
A spokesman for the Israeli emergency services told AFP the 38-year-old was delivering food to soldiers serving in the area.
6:54 am: Angry Palestinians drive health minister out of Gaza
Palestinian health minister Jawad Awad cancelled a trip to Gaza City's Shifa hospital on Tuesday after being confronted by angry protesters as he arrived from Egypt, officials said, AFP reported.
Witnesses said protesters threw shoes and eggs at Awad's car as he entered Gaza through the Rafah border crossing.
Officials said he left the Palestinian territory shortly afterwards.
Protesters also gathered at Shifa hospital in Gaza City, carrying posters criticising Awad and the recently formed government of technocrats to which he belongs.
The government was sworn in on 2 June following a unity deal between the Islamist Hamas movement and president Mahmud Abbas which ended seven years of rival administrations in the West Bank and Gaza.
"Gaza has been bombed, and Gaza has been destroyed, and now he comes to visit?" protester Ahmed Murtaja said incredulously.
"We don't want this visit and all the Palestinian people are opposed to it and reject it," he told AFP.
Protesters said they were angry that it had taken Awad eight days to visit Gaza, where 193 people have been killed in Israeli air strikes.
They also condemned the Palestinian president for failing to do more to halt the Israeli campaign, with some chanting: "Abu Mazen (Abbas) is a collaborator."
In a statement, the health ministry condemned the "flagrant and brutal assault" on the minister and his delegation in Rafah, blaming the incident on "media affiliated with Hamas."
Although the reconciliation agreement has held, a lot of bad blood remains between Hamas and the West Bank leadership.
"The ministry of health will continue to stand by our people in Gaza," the statement said, pledging to secure medical supplies for the wounded.
There was no immediate comment from Hamas, but a top member of its exiled politburo, Mussa Abu Marzuq, condemned the incident as "irresponsible and improper" on his Facebook page.
He called for an investigation and prosecution of those responsible.
6:12 am: One killed in renewed Israeli strikes in Gaza, death toll reaches 193
Renewed Israeli air strikes in the Gaza Strip killed a 77-year-old man on Tuesday, medics said, the first death since the failure of an Egyptian truce proposal.
The death of the man, in southern Khan Yunis, brought the toll in eight days of violence to 193, according to emergency services spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra.
6:00 am: Hamas limits crossings at border with Israel
Hamas allowed a group of 25 Palestinians, including those seeking medical treatment, to cross from Gaza into Israel after closing the border crossing earlier on Tuesday.
But it declined to let anyone else leave Gaza or enter from Israel, a Palestinian official in charge of coordinating movement at the Erez crossing told AFP.
He said a group of 13 Palestinians with injuries or illnesses were allowed to cross with 12 family members.
But no one else was allowed to use the crossing, he added.
A Hamas official confirmed the Gaza side of the border had been reopened for limited movement after it was earlier declared closed.
At the time, a Hamas official said no one would be allowed to use the crossing until an international guarantee that it would not be targeted by Israeli shelling.
The official said the border was closed for security reasons after the Palestinian side was repeatedly bombed.
There was no immediate confirmation of the border restrictions from COGAT, the Israeli defence ministry unit responsible for the crossing.
10:16 pm: Israel resumes airstrikes as Hamas rejects Egypt's ceasefire plan
Israel today resumed air strikes on Gaza after an Egyptian-brokered ceasefire failed to stop the escalating violence that has killed 192 Palestinians in nine days of fighting as Hamas continued to fire rockets at the Jewish state.
"Hamas has fired 47 rockets since we suspended our strikes in Gaza (this morning). As a result, we have resumed our operation against Hamas," an Israeli military statement said on Twitter.
"After Hamas and Islamic Jihad refused the Egyptian proposal for a ceasefire and fired dozens of rockets at Israel, the prime minister and defence minister have ordered the IDF to act forcefully against the terror targets in Gaza," an Israeli official said speaking as Israeli strikes resumed.
4:14 pm: Turkish PM Erdogan accuses Israel of committing "state terrorism"
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday stepped up his rhetoric against Israel over its its deadly air offensive on Gaza, accusing the Jewish state of committing "state terrorism" against the Palestinians, AFP reported.
Presenting himself as the sole world leader speaking up for the Palestinians, Erdogan said that any normalisation in the troubled ties between Israel and Ankara was currently out of the question.
"Israel is continuing to carry out state terrorism in the region. Nobody, except us, tells it to stop," Erdogan told members of his ruling party in parliament, accusing Israel of perpetrating a "massacre" of Palestinians.
"To what extent will the world remain silent to this state terrorism?"
Supporters from his Islamic-rooted Justice and Development Party (AKP) often interrupted his address by shouting slogans like "Murderer Israel!".
Erdogan also welcomed the ceasefire proposal as "very positive" and "precious".
"I hope this ceasefire will be secured," he said.
"But it appears that the blood of innocent Palestinian children is being exploited in the dirty politics of the Middle East," he said.
Erdogan is due to host Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas in Turkey for talks on Friday.
Erdogan sees himself as a champion of the Palestinian cause and is also keen to underline his credentials as a global Muslim leader ahead of 10 August presidential elections in which he is standing.
"You are no longer alone and will never be," said Erdogan, referring to the Palestinians.
3:30 pm: Kerry urges Hamas to accept ceasefire proposal
US Secretary of State John Kerry urged Hamas to accept Egypt's ceasefire proposal to halt fighting with Israel in the Gaza Strip, AFP reported.
In a brief statement released by the State Department on Tuesday, Kerry welcomed Israel's decision to accept the proposal.
"The Egyptian proposal for a ceasefire and negotiations provides an opportunity to end the violence and restore calm," Kerry said.
"We welcome the Israeli cabinet's decision to accept it. We urge all other parties to accept the proposal," he added.
Speaking to reporter in Vienna, Kerry said: "There are great risks of even an escalation of the violence," adding that the United States wanted to give an Egyptian ceasefire initiative time to work, but he was ready to fly back to Middle East "tomorrow" if needed.
2:56 pm: Israel will broaden military action if Hamas rejects ceasefire: Netanyahu
Israel sees in the Egyptian-proposed Gaza truce an opportunity to strip the Palestinian enclave of rockets but is prepared to redouble military action there if the cross-border launches persist, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday.
"We agreed to the Egyptian proposal in order to give an opportunity for the demilitarisation of the (Gaza) Strip - from missiles, from rockets and from tunnels - through diplomatic means," he told reporters.
"But if Hamas does not accept the ceasefire proposal, as would now seem to be the case, Israel would have all international legitimacy to broaden the military operation to achieve the required quiet."
2:33 pm: Hamas rocket hits port city in southern Israel
A Gaza rocket struck the southern port city of Ashdod on Tuesday, police said, just hours after Israel agreed to abide by an Egyptian truce that was rejected by Hamas.
"The rocket struck a yard outside a house in Ashdod, several people have been treated for shock," police spokeswoman Luba Samri said in a statement, AFP reported.
The attack was claimed by the armed wing of Hamas, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, which said it had fired "eight Grad rockets" at Ashdod, which is home to some 212,000 people.
There were no immediate reports from Gaza of a military response to the fire on Ashdod, which came after three mortar shells struck open areas near the southern flank of the Israel-Gaza border.
In a statement issued around the same time, Hamas said it did not consider itself obliged by the Egyptian proposal. "Because we were excluded from the consultations for this (truce) initiative, we are not obliged to abide by it," it said.
2:17 pm: Hamas closes border crossing with Israel
Hamas said Tuesday it has closed the Erez border crossing due to Israeli shelling, in a move that stranded a group of Palestinians planning to cross for medical treatment.
A group of about 20 Palestinians, some of whom were scheduled to enter Israel for cancer treatment, had arrived at the crossing early on Tuesday, an AFP correspondent said.
There was no immediate confirmation of the closure from COGAT, the Israeli defence ministry unit responsible for the crossing.
But a Hamas official at the site insisted the crossing was not open, and the gate leading to the tunnel that connects the Israeli and Gaza sides of the crossing was closed.
"The border has been closed because of constant Israeli shelling," he said.
The crossing area has been hit previously, but there were no reports of shelling on Monday or Tuesday.
A second official said the crossing would remain closed until they received international assurances that the terminal would be protected from Israeli air strikes.
"We need an international guarantee that the crossing, and the route between the two sides of the crossing, will not be bombed by Israel," he said.
2:09 pm: Israel says it will act forcefully if Hamas breaks ceasefire
After accepting the ceasefire plan proposed by Egypt, Israel said that will act forcefully if Hamas doesn't halt the rocket attacks.
The security cabinet will also undertake an international campaign to dismantle "Hamas' rocket stockpiles, and closing the tunnels inside Gaza," The Jerusalem Post reported.
The report also highlights the reason behind Israel's acceptance of the ceasefire plan -- military action from this point onward would be seen as legitimate.
"Diplomatic officials said the security cabinet's decision to halt the operation at this point will give Israel international legitimacy to continue with widespread military action if Hamas does not stop its rocket attacks," says The Jerusalem Post report.
1:47 pm: Gaza death toll rises to 192
The death toll from Israel's week-long campaign in Gaza rose Tuesday to 192, after another six Palestinians died, four of them in strikes before Israel accepted an Egyptian ceasefire.
Emergency services spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra said three people were killed in two separate air strikes on the southern city of Khan Yunis.
And two other men in the city succumbed to injuries sustained in earlier raids, he said.
Also in the south, a woman was killed in an earlier strike on Rafah, taking Tuesday's toll to six dead, he said.
All of the fatalities took place before Israel accepted a 0600 GMT ceasefire proposed by Egypt, despite its rejection by Hamas.
Israeli soldiers sleep on the ground next to an armoured personnel carrier (APC) outside the central Gaza Strip. AFP imageIsraeli soldiers sleep on the ground next to an armoured personnel carrier (APC) outside the central Gaza Strip.
Late Monday, the death toll rose above that of the previous major conflict between Israel and Hamas militants, an eight day confrontation in November 2012 which claimed the lives of 177 Palestinians and six Israelis.
So far, no Israelis have been killed in the week-long fighting in and around Gaza, with only four people seriously injured.
The Gaza-based Palestinian Centre for Human Rights said on Sunday, when the toll stood at over 150, that three quarters of the dead were civilians.
And on Monday, a senior UN official said more than a quarter were children.
The bloodiest day so far was Saturday when 56 Gazans were killed.
1:30 pm: Gaza militants fire 3 rockets despite truce call
The Israeli military says Gaza militants have fired three rockets at Israel since the deadline passed for the start of a cease-fire proposed by Egypt.
The attack came shortly after Israel accepted the Egyptian truce proposal, which Gaza's Hamas rulers swiftly rejected, Associated Press reported.
Under the Egyptian plan, hostilities were to halt by 9 am local time. The military says three rockets were fired at empty lands near the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon. The military says they caused no casualties or damage.
12:44 pm: Hamas rejects Egypt's ceasefire proposal moments after Israel's nod A senior Hamas official says the Palestinian militant group rejects an Egyptian proposal for a cease-fire with Israel.
The official, Sami Abu Zuhri, spoke moments after Israel accepted the offer on Tuesday. Abu Zuhri told The Associated Press that "this proposal is not acceptable."
The Egyptian plan calls for hostilities to end Tuesday morning, followed by negotiations on easing the border blockade of Gaza.
The territory has been under a blockade by Egypt and Israel since Hamas seized Gaza in 2007.
12:00 pm: Israel accepts Egypt's ceasefire proposal
Israel's security cabinet accepted an Egyptian ceasefire proposal, a government spokesman said, after a week of the deadliest violence in and around Gaza in years.
"The cabinet has decided to accept the Egyptian initiative for a ceasefire starting 9am today," Ofir Gendelman, spokesman for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said on Twitter. Ministers in the security cabinet had begun meeting early on Tuesday to consider the Egyptian proposal for a ceasefire to start immediately from 0600 GMT.
Army radio noted that there had been no parallel acceptance of the initiative by Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist movement that controls the Gaza Strip.
There were no immediate reports of rocket fire at Israel after the deadline, with the army saying only two rockets had struck the south overnight, and another two shot were shot down just 15 minutes before the Egyptian initiative came into force.
Overnight, Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhum told AFP there would be no truce without a fully fledged deal to end hostilities.
"In times of war, you don't cease fire and then negotiate," he said. Hamas's armed wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, also rejected the proposal as a "surrender", pledging to "intensify" its attacks on Israel.
8:45 am: Hamas rejects peace proposal as "surrender"
The armed wing of Hamas on Tuesday rejected Egyptian proposals for a ceasefire in Gaza, threatening to "intensify" its conflict with Israel if truce terms were unsatisfactory.
"No official or unofficial side has approached us about the ceasefire talked about in the media... (but) if the contents of this proposal are true, it is a surrender and we reject it outright," the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades said in a statement. "Our battle with the enemy will intensify."
8:38 am: US welcomes Egypt's peace plan for Gaza
The United States on Monday welcomed an an Egyptian proposal to end the raging conflict between Israel and Hamas.
"We welcome Egypt's call for a ceasefire and hope this will lead to the restoration of calm as soon as possible," State Department spokeswoman Jan Psaki said in a statement.
US President Barack Obama on Monday welcomed Egypt's proposal for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, saying he hoped it could restore calm.
At an Iftar dinner, marking the Muslim Holy month of Ramadan, Obama also said Israel had a right to defend itself against "inexcusable" rocket attacks but described the deaths of Palestinian civilians in the conflict as a "tragedy."
8:30 am: Arab League backs Palestinian demand for international protection
The Arab League on Monday called on "all parties" to accept an Egyptian proposal to end the raging conflict between Israel and Hamas, after the Palestinian militant group signalled its rejection of the truce.
The ministers, meeting for an extraordinary Arab League session, also backed a Palestinian demand for "international protection."
8:21 am: Israeli cabinet to meet to discuss Egyptian peace plan
Israel's security cabinet was to meet early Tuesday to discuss Egyptian proposals for a truce in Gaza, a senior official said, as an aerial campaign against Hamas entered its eighth day.
"The security cabinet will meet early tomorrow to study seriously the Egyptian proposals," the official told AFP, on condition of anonymity.
8:10 am: Lebanese rocket hits northern Israel
A rocket fired from Lebanese territory hit northern Israel on Monday, the army said, after overnight rocket fire from both Syria and Lebanon.
Smoke billows after an Israeli air strike in areas of southern Israeli border with the Gaza Strip. AFP imageSmoke billows after an Israeli air strike in areas of southern Israeli border with the Gaza Strip.
"At least one rocket fired from Lebanon hit an open area north of Nahariya," a coastal city not far from the Lebanese border, the army said in a statement.
No casualties or damage were reported, it added. The army said it responded shortly after with artillery fire "towards the launching site" of the rocket.
A rocket fired from Syria hit the Israeli-occupied sector of the Golan Heights late Sunday, falling on open ground and causing no casualties, the army said.
And early on Monday the army said that "several rockets were fired from Lebanon at the western Galilee, one hitting an open area," with no damage reported.
The army said Israel responded with artillery fire at Syrian military posts and that "hits were identified" and that it also shelled the source of the fire from Lebanon, lodging a complaint with UN peacekeepers.
Sunday's fire was the first of its kind from Syrian territory since Israel launched a fierce air campaign against Gaza on Tuesday with the stated aim of stemming a rising tide of rocket fire by Palestinian militants.
But rockets fired from Lebanon struck northern Israel on Friday and Saturday, without causing casualties. Military officials said they believed the attacks were carried out by a small Palestinian group in an act of solidarity with Gazan militants.
7:29 am: France steps up security after protestors storm synagogue
France stepped up security on Monday after protestors demonstrating against Israel's bombardment of Gaza tried to storm two Paris synagogues.
President Francois Hollande warned that he did not want to see "the Israeli-Palestinian conflict imported into France" after two Jewish men were hurt in clashes that erupted on Sunday.
Several thousand demonstrators joined in the Paris protest on Sunday, with violence breaking out at the end of the march on Bastille Square as people threw projectiles onto a cordon of police who responded with tear gas. A small group tried to break into two synagogues in central Paris, a police source told AFP.
The Jewish men were not badly hurt. Six policemen were also injured. In his traditional Bastille Day television interview, Hollande said he did not want the "consequences" of the conflict playing out in France, and would not tolerate such attacks.
"The conflict between Israel and Palestine cannot be used as an excuse for anti-Semitism." Joel Mergei, president of the Central Israeli Consistory -- the top Jewish religious authority in France, said the violence represented a "new low" after an earlier petrol bomb attack on a synagogue in the suburb of St Denis.
7:24 am: Egypt proposes ceasefire as Gaza death toll reaches 184
Egypt proposed a ceasefire in the conflict between Israel and its Islamist foe Hamas to start at 0600 GMT and be followed by talks on easing the flow goods into Gaza, AFP reported.
Relative carry a four-year-old Palestinian girl who was killed in an Israeli air strike in the northern Gaza Strip. Reuters imageRelative carry a four-year-old Palestinian girl who was killed in an Israeli air strike in the northern Gaza Strip. Reuters image
The proposal late on Monday came on the eve of a scheduled visit by US Secretary of State John Kerry to Egypt, a traditional broker in Palestinian-Israeli conflicts, to push for a halt to seven days of exchanges that have left 184 Gazans dead.
7:00 am:US warns Israel against ground assault in Gaza
Washington warned it's all Israel against any ground invasion of Gaza, as Egyptian officials said Secretary of State John Kerry was headed to the region to join efforts to end a week of deadly violence.
AFP reported that the White House stopped short of criticising Israel over the civilian casualty toll from its devastating air and artillery bombardment of the densely populated Palestinian enclave that has drawn flak from the United Nations and human rights watchdogs.
It said the Israeli government had the "right" and "responsibility" to defend its citizens against rocket attacks by its Islamist foe Hamas from its Gaza stronghold. But it said even more civilians would be put at risk were Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to heed hardliners in his governing coalition and send in troops and armour.
With Israel's punishing air campaign in its seventh day, the death toll in Gaza hit 177, prompting growing calls for a ceasefire which have so far showed little sign of progress
End of updates for 14 July
11:16 pm: Kerry to visit Egypt to facilitate truce in Gaza
US Secretary of State John Kerry will visit Egypt on Tuesday as pressure piles on Israel and Hamas to end a week-long conflict in Gaza, Egyptian state media reported.
The US top diplomat had telephoned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday to renew an offer to help broker a halt to the rocket fire by Gaza militants and the retaliatory Israeli air and artillery bombardment that has killed 175 Palestinians in the past seven days, AFP reported.
9:22 pm: Hamas lays out conditions for truce
The Palestinian Hamas movement said Monday that it would not end hostilities with Israel without concessions by the Jewish state and that no serious efforts towards a truce had been made.
"Talk of a ceasefire requires real and serious efforts, which we haven't seen so far," Hamas legislative member Mushir al-Masri told AFP in Gaza City. Masri said Hamas would only negotiate on the basis of a set of concessions it wants to see Israel agree to.
Those include the lifting of Israel's blockade on the Gaza Strip, the opening of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt and the release of Palestinian prisoners Israel has rearrested after freeing them in exchange for kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.
"Any ceasefire must be based on the conditions we have outlined, nothing less than that will be accepted," Masri said.
In Cairo, a Hamas official said a general framework had been agreed, and that the group was committed to achieving more than it did in the truce deal that ended the last major round of violence with Israel in 2012.
"We need to build on the 2012 truce and move forward. We don't want to go back," he said.
Masri said that "Arab countries and Islamic countries and Western countries" were involved in discussions about a truce, but declined to give details. He said Hamas was prepared to continue fighting and ready for a "long, drawn-out battle."
1:01 pm: PDP walks out of Lok Sabha protesting strikes in Gaza
Jammu and Kashmir People's Democratic Party today voiced grave concern over killing of "innocent" people, including children, in Gaza following attacks by Israel and staged a walkout in Lok Sabha, PTI reported.
As soon as the House met for the day, PDP leader Mehbooba Mufti wanted to raise the issue saying the House cannot remain silent over the killing of women, children and others in Gaza.
"Why are we silent? Whom are we afraid of? India is the only friend of Palestine since 1947. We have to condemn the attack. We have to discuss," she said, supported by party member Tariq Hameed Karra.
She was supported by E Ahamed (Indian Union Muslim League), Saugata Roy (Trinamool Congress) and P Karunakaran (CPI-M). Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, however, did not allow her to raise the issue saying she can not allow any discussion on the subject without receiving any notice.
"This is not the way. This is not fair. You have not given any notice. I cannot allow," Mahajan said. Unhappy with the Speaker's ruling, PDP members staged a walkout.
12:10 pm: Palestinian killed in clash with Israeli army in West Bank
A Palestinian was killed by the Israeli army in a clash south of the West Bank city of Hebron early on Monday, his family said.
Relatives identified the man as Munir Ahmed Badarin, in his early twenties.
They said he was shot in clashes near Al-Samua, in the southernmost part of the West Bank, and died later in hospital.
11:00 am: Israel claims it has downed an unmanned drone
Israel's military says it has downed an unmanned drone along its southern coastline, the first time it has encountered such a weapon since its struggle with Gaza Strip militants began last week.
The military says the drone came from Gaza and that it was shot down on Monday by a Patriot missile near the southern city of Ashdod.
8:00 am: Gaza death toll hits 172 as Israel's relentless campaign enters 7th day
Israel kept up air strikes and artillery fire on the Gaza Strip Monday despite diplomatic efforts to halt the bloodshed, as its offensive entered the seventh day, AFP reported.
Aircraft struck three training facilities of Hamas's military wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, around the coastal territory, but caused no casualties, medics and eyewitnesses said.
They also hit buildings in Gaza City, Deir el-Balah in the southern part of the strip, and in the northern town of Jabaliya, injuring an unspecified number of people.
There was shelling reported in Beit Lahiya, in the far north of the strip, where Israel had earlier warned residents of an impending assault.
Israel also moved against Hamas in the occupied West Bank, arresting at least five of the movement's lawmakers in Nablus and Jenin, Palestinian security officials told AFP.
Israeli media reported that a security cabinet meeting ended late Sunday with no orders for a ground assault. Israeli army radio quoted security sources "at the most senior level" as saying that there were "four channels for attempts to reach a ceasefire -- Qatar, the Palestinian Authority, the Americans and the Egyptians."
"According to those sources the Egyptian channel is the strongest, the most significant and the one that draws together all those channels of mediation," the station's military affairs reporter said.
As the death toll rose, the Gaza-based Palestinian Centre for Human Rights said most of the victims were civilians, putting their number at more than 130, among them 35 children and 26 women.
So far, no Israelis have been killed, although militants in Gaza have pounded the south and centre of the country with about 715 rockets since the fighting began on 8 July, an army spokeswoman told AFP late Sunday. Around 160 had been intercepted, she said.
11:22 pm: 17,000 Palestinians have fled Gaza, says UN
Fearing for their lives, about 17,000 people have taken shelter in installations of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, the agency said in a statement.
Despite increasing calls for a ceasefire, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the military was hitting Hamas "with growing force", warning there was no end in sight. "We do not know when this operation will end," he told ministers.
11:07 pm: UN chief deplores Palestinian deaths, urges Israel against ground offensive
"Too many" Palestinian civilians have been killed, UN chief Ban Ki-moon said Sunday as he urged Israel to scrap plans for a potentially devastating ground offensive.
Repeating his call for a ceasefire, the secretary-general said he "feels a sense of responsibility for the Palestinians who, especially in the Gaza Strip, have long been denied the sense of freedom and dignity that they deserve," according to a statement released by his spokesman Stephane Dujarric.
The situation in Gaza, with at least 170 Palestinians killed and no Israeli casualties, "appears to be worsening," Ban said, noting that the UN Security Council's call for a ceasefire had not been respected. Reiterating his condemnation of the firing of rockets into Israel by the Islamist movement Hamas that rules Gaza, Ban demanded an "immediate cessation of these indecent attacks."
But a "deeply worried" UN chief also stressed that "too many Palestinian civilians have been killed, and any Israeli ground offensive will undoubtedly increase the death toll and exacerbate civilian suffering in the Gaza Strip."
"It is in the interest of both sides that steps toward dangerous escalation be replaced with immediate measures to end the fighting, thus preventing further casualties and greater risks to regional peace and security," the statement added.
"(Ban) demands both sides move in this direction now."
6:45 pm: Rocket from Syria hits Israel-held Golan
A rocket fired from Syria hit the Israeli-occupied sector of the Golan Heights on Sunday, falling on open ground and causing no casualties, an army spokeswoman told AFP.
"The assumption is that it was not a stray," she said, although there was no immediate report of Israeli retaliation. An Israeli Arab teenager was killed on the border last month by what may have been a rocket, mortar fire or an explosive device, prompting Israel to carry out retaliatory air raids on Syrian army positions.
Sunday's incident was the first of its kind from Syrian territory since Israel on Tuesday launched a fierce air campaign on Gaza with the stated aim of stemming a rising tide of rocket fire by Palestinian militants.
Military officials said they believed the attacks were carried out by a small Palestinian group in an act of solidarity with Gazan militants.
4:40 pm: Kerry tells Netanyahu US prepared to mediate peace talks
US Secretary of State John Kerry on Sunday phoned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to renew a US offer to help mediate a truce as Israel stepped up its military campaign against the Gaza Strip.
Kerry "highlighted the US concern about escalating tensions on the ground," a senior State Department official said. The top US diplomat also told the Israeli leader that he was engaged with regional leaders "to help to stop the rocket fire so calm can be restored and civilian casualties prevented".
Kerry had condemned the militant rocket attacks from Gaza into southern Israel, and "stressed Israel's right to defend itself".
But he also "underscored the United States' readiness to facilitate a cessation of hostilities, including a return to the November 2012 ceasefire agreement." Despite increasing calls for a ceasefire, Netanyahu said the military was hitting Hamas "with growing force," warning there was no end in sight.
"We do not know when this operation will end," he told ministers. Top diplomats from Britain, France, Germany and the United States were due to discuss truce efforts in Vienna on Sunday on the sidelines of talks on Iran.
Britain's Foreign Secretary William Hague said earlier as he arrived for talks that "there is an urgent need to bring an end to the violence in Gaza."
Israel has warned that preparations are under way for a possible ground incursion, with Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman saying a decision was expected later Sunday, at a meeting of the security cabinet. But commentators said Israel was not in a rush to begin a ground operation.
3:53 pm: Palestinian prez asks for UN protection as Israel intensifies strikes
Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas is to ask the United Nations to put the state of Palestine under "international protection" in light of the worsening violence in the Gaza Strip, AFP reported the PLO as saying.
"President Abbas will present a letter to the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Robert Serry, addressed to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, to officially put the State of Palestine under the UN international protection system and to form a legal committee for immediate follow-up," it said in a statement.
Abbas also wants a commission of inquiry into Israel's massive air bombardment of the Gaza Strip in an attempt to halt militant rocket fire into the Jewish state. "Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas is undertaking several steps and measures to deal with the horrific situation in Gaza," senior Palestine Liberation Organisation member Hanan Ashrawi said in a statement after a meeting of the PLO executive.
Abbas has asked Switzerland, the depository of the fourth Geneva Convention on the protection of civilians in wartime, to summon the contracting parties and ask them to place sanctions on Israel as the occupying power responsible under the convention for the safety of civilians.
Its recognition by the UN as a non-member state has allowed Palestine to sign several international conventions, including the Geneva Conventions.
10:47 am: Israel's campaign in Gaza enters 6th day as death toll hits 166
Israeli strikes on Gaza killed a teenager and a woman on Sunday, medics said, raising the overall death toll to 166 as the punishing air campaign entered its sixth day, AFP reported.
One strike on the northern town of Jabaliya struck a house, killing a 14-year-old boy, emergency services spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra said. Shortly afterwards, another strike killed a woman in the Maghazi refugee camp in central Gaza, he said.
A man was killed in a raid on Beit Hanun in northern Gaza, where the Israeli army has warned it will sharply escalate its offensive and had urged residents to flee. Elsewhere another person succumbed to injuries from an earlier strike, Qudra said, giving an overall toll of 166 dead. More than 1,000 people have been wounded.
Witnesses in the southern city of Rafah also reported seeing gunmen killing a man in the middle of the street in what appeared to be the execution of someone suspected of collaborating with Israel.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility from any of Gaza's armed factions. Saturday was the bloodiest day by far of the operation, with 52 people killed.
The deadliest strike was in Gaza City just before midnight (2100 GMT) in the eastern Tuffah district where 18 people were killed in strikes that hit the house of Hamas police chief Tayseer al-Batsh and a mosque, medics said.
Batsh survived but was reportedly in critical condition, with around 50 people wounded in the strikes.
Israel began Operation Protective Edge before dawn on Tuesday in an attempt to halt cross-border rocket fire by militant groups. Since then, approximately 660 rockets have hit Israel, while another 173 were intercepted by the Iron Dome air defence system, the army said.
On Sunday, 30 rockets struck Israel, while another five were shot down, a spokeswoman said. No Israelis have been killed, and only three people have been seriously wounded since the start of the operation, one them a 16-year-old boy who was injured on Sunday during a strike on the coastal town of Ashkelon, medics said.
By Sunday morning, the Israeli military said it had struck 1,320 "terror targets" across Gaza, including 735 rocket launchers, 64 training bases and militant compounds, and 32 Hamas leadership facilities. More than 20 targets were hit overnight, the army said.
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