UN lauds latest Gaza truce

The latest Egyptian-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Hamas came into effect just past midnight on Monday, local time (21:01 UTC on Sunday). Both sides launched last-minute attacks - Israeli airstrikes and rockets from Gaza - before the clock ticked past midnight.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon welcomed the renewed truce. A statement from Ban's spokesman said the UN's top diplomat "expresses his strong hope that this will give the two sides, under Egyptian auspices, another chance to agree on a durable ceasefire for the benefit of all civilian populations and a starting point to address the underlying grievances on both sides."

The South Korean diplomat also urged all concerned to "avoid any steps which would lead to a return to violence," in light of past failed attempts to halt the fighting.

"The United Nations stands ready to assist in the implementation of an agreement that would consolidate peace and allow for much needed reconstruction and development of Gaza," Ban's statement also said.

Renewed Cairo talks the next step

Israeli officials said on Sunday night that their negotiators would return to indirect peace talks, brokered by Egypt, on Monday - provided the truce held overnight.

Airport officials in Cairo on Sunday evening said that Palestinian officials, including veteran negotiator Saeb Erekat, had landed for talks with Egyptian and Arab League officials.

Israel refuses to negotiate directly with the Hamas group, which it considers a terrorist organization, in control of Gaza. Hamas' leader told the AFP news agency that the Palestinian side would stand by their key demand for a long-term ceasefire - that the seven-year blockade of Gaza be lifted.

"We insist on this goal," Hamas' Khaled Mashaal told AFP. "In the case of Israeli procrastination or continued aggression, Hamas is ready with other Palestinian factions to resist on the ground and politically."

Israel, meanwhile, has said that it would only agree to a lasting peace once rocket fire out of Gaza is permanently stopped. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had warned his cabinet at a meeting in Tel Aviv earlier on Sunday that the military operation could still "take time."

Since Israel began airstrikes against Gaza on July 8, more than 1,900 Palestinians have been killed. On the Israeli side, 67 people - mostly soldiers - have died.

After the Egyptian truce proposal was accepted by both sides, negotiators in Cairo urged all concerned to "reach a comprehensive and permanent ceasefire."

msh/av (AFP, dpa)