Calls to extend Gaza ceasefire

Meeting in Paris on Saturday, top diplomats from around the world called on Hamas and Israel to extend their truce in the Gaza Strip, with a view toward broader negotiations aimed at addressing the grievances that sparked the latest round of bloodshed.

During the 12-hour truce, medics in the Gaza Strip have sifted through the rubble of destroyed buildings, unearthing 100 bodies. That pushes the Palestinian death toll to more than 1,000 people since Israel launched Operation Protective Edge on July 8. The overwhelming majority of the Palestinian dead have been civilians. Israel has suffered 40 casualties so far - 37 soldiers and three civilians.

"All of us call on the parties to extend the humanitarian ceasefire that is currently underway," said French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius.

"All of us want to obtain, as quickly as possible, a durable, negotiated ceasefire that responds to both the Israeli needs in terms of security and to Palestinian needs in terms of the social-economic development and access to the territory of Gaza," Fabius continued.

The French foreign minister's comments came after he met with his counterparts from Britain, France, Germany, the US, Qatar and Turkey. British Foreign Minister Philip Hammond said that the "necessity right now is to stop the loss of life."

"We stop the loss of life by getting this ceasefire to roll over for 12 hours, 24 hours or 48 hours - and then again until we have established the level of confidence that allows the parties to sit round a table to talk about the substantive issues," Hammond continued.

But German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier emphasized that a ceasefire would hold only if Gaza "no longer serves as a weapons depot for Hamas and living conditions of the people improve."

Kerry pushes for peace

On Friday, US Secretary of State John Kerry met with Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukri in Cairo, where he pushed for Hamas and Israel to accept a seven-day ceasefire.

But the two sides failed to agree on the terms of a longer pause in fighting, opting instead for a 12-hour truce. Israel said that, during the truce, it would continue to destroy a network of tunnels used by Palestinian militants to stage attacks against Israel.

Secretary Kerry remained optimistic, saying that "gaps have been significantly narrowed" between the two sides on a longer truce.

"It can be achieved, if we work through some of the issues that are important for the parties," he said.

slk/dr (AFP, Reuters, dpa)