Israel lengthens ceasefire
July 27, 2014
Israel's security cabinet decided to extend the truce for a further 24 hours, until midnight local time on Sunday (2100 UTC), following a request from the UN.
However, it warned that the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) would respond to aggression from the Palestinian side and continue operations to destroy Hamas tunnels into Israeli territory.
"At the request of the United Nations, the cabinet has approved a humanitarian hiatus until tomorrow…The IDF will act against any breach of the ceasefire," an official said. Israel had already extended the truce by four hours, from 8 p.m. local time on Saturday until midnight.
The UN's top official in Jerusalem, Robert Serry, had earlier added to diplomatic calls for the ceasefire to be extended for at least 24 hours, urging parties to address "the underlying causes for the instability."
The DPA news agency reported Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu as saying that participants in talks between Hamas and Israel had been "very close to reaching a ceasefire, but Israel rejected the proposal at the last minute."
The ceasefire was used in Gaza as an opportunity for residents to stock up on supplies, while rescue workers were able to access areas that had been deemed off-limits during the hostilities.
At least 147 Palestinian bodies were recovered from beneath the rubble and taken to hospitals on Saturday, according to medics. While Israel claims to do its utmost to avoid civilian casualties in targeting Hamas militants, many Gazans have claimed the shelling to be indiscriminate.
Deadline expires, rockets launched
Hamas resumed firing of mortar shells and rockets from the Gaza Strip after the expiry of the original humanitarian window. The militant group rejected the Israeli extension, saying that Israeli tanks engaged in a ground offensive first had to withdraw from its territory.
Several dozen rockets were fired into Israel after Hamas rejected a four hour extension of the truce, with the Israeli army saying that two rockets had been intercepted above the town of Ashkelon. Israel did not immediately retaliate for the missile fire.
The death toll from the conflict on the Palestinian side is placed at more than 1,000 in the past 19 days, with most of those killed believed to have been civilians.
Just ahead of the temporary truce, at least 18 members of one family - 10 of whom were children - were killed in an Israeli attack.
On the Israeli side, 37 soldiers have died in fighting, with three civilian deaths.
rc/jm (AFP, dpa, Reuters)