Friday, 25 July 2014

Gaza conflict: Israel and Hamas 'agree short truce' - BBC News

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Baby delivered from mother's dead body








A baby has been delivered from a woman killed in a Israeli air strike, as Ian Pannell reports






Israel and Hamas have agreed to a 12-hour pause in hostilities in Gaza, reports say.


The truce is due to begin at 0800 local time (0500 GMT). Efforts to negotiate a seven-day ceasefire are still ongoing.


Earlier US Secretary of State John Kerry said he was still confident of a longer ceasefire, despite media reports that Israel had rejected one proposal.


More than 800 Palestinians, mostly civilians, and 36 Israelis have died since the conflict started on 8 July.


A spokesman for Hamas, the Islamist group that controls Gaza, Sami Abu Zuhri said there was "national consensus on a humanitarian truce... for 12 hours on Saturday".


There has not yet been official confirmation of the truce from the Israeli government, but several Israeli media sources have reported Israel's acceptance.


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


Hamas has previously said it would not agree to any long-term truce that did not lead to an end to Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip.














Bethlehem clashes








Palestinian protesters clashed with Israeli security forces in Bethleham, as Orla Guerin reports





West Bank clashes

According to Reuters news agency, Israeli air strikes killed a further 55 people in Gaza on Friday.


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


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


People gather around the wreckage of a car after it was hit by an Israeli strike in Gaza city on July 25Air strikes continued against targets in Gaza on Friday

Meanwhile Israel's military said its Iron Dome defence system had intercepted several rockets fired across the border by Hamas.


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


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


Several foreign ministers, including Mr Kerry, are due to hold a meeting in France on Saturday to seek a diplomatic solution.


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


The foreign ministers of the EU, UK, Germany, Turkey and Qatar will also take part.


A picture taken from the southern Israeli border with the Gaza Strip shows the trail of a missile launched by Israel's Iron Dome defence system, designed to intercept and destroy incoming short-range rockets and artillery shells, as it intercepts and destroys a rocket launched from Gaza into Israel, on July 25Israel's Iron Dome system intercepted several rockets fired from Gaza on Friday

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


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