’Israel’ Continues Aggression despite 12-Hour Ceasefire
Local Editor
A 12-hour ceasefire started at 8:00 am Saturday between the Zionist entity and the Resistance Hamas movement.
Hamas said that it and other Resistance groups in Gaza had reached "national consensus on a humanitarian truce" and "Israel" later confirmed that it would observe what it called "a humanitarian window in the Gaza Strip".
A statement from the interior ministry in Gaza warned people not to approach bombed-out buildings and bases for fear of "explosive objects".
Earlier, US Secretary of State John Kerry, speaking from Cairo, said that efforts to broker a longer halt to the fighting had so far yet to bear fruit.
He arrived in Paris on Saturday where France's Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius was to host a meeting later in the day of counterparts from the United States, Britain, Germany, Italy, Qatar, Turkey and the EU.
However, the "Israeli" aggression continued in the early hours of Saturday, the conflict's 19th day, with air strikes and shelling martyring 23 people, among them four children and a paramedic, Gaza medical services said.
Kerry, who has been leading efforts to reach a truce, said at a press conference in Cairo with UN chief Ban Ki-moon that both "Israel" and Hamas "still have some terminology" to agree to on a ceasefire, but added they had "fundamental framework" on a truce.
Meanwhile, "Israel's" Channel 1 TV reported late Friday that "Israeli" Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's security cabinet had "unanimously rejected" the Kerry proposal.
In a statement released by his office, Ban called for "an immediate, unconditional humanitarian pause in the fighting in Gaza and Israel".
"This pause would last through the Eid al-Fitr holiday period," Ban said, referring to the forthcoming Muslim festival, adding that a halt in the fighting could lead to a "longer-term ceasefire plan".
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu flew to Qatar on Friday to help efforts after Kerry reached out to Ankara and Doha to push for a ceasefire.
Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team
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