Foreign ministers meeting in Paris are calling on Israel and Hamas to extend a humanitarian cease-fire in Gaza.

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius met with counterparts from Britain, Germany, Italy, Qatar, Turkey, and the United States to press for an extension of the temporary cease-fire.

"We all call on parties to achieve a negotiated, sustainable cease-fire that will meet Israel's security concerns but will also meet the Palestinians' expectations in terms of economic development and access to Gaza," he said.

U.S. officials traveling with Secretary of State John Kerry say Hamas believes some of what it was promised in a 2012 cease-fire was never delivered - especially the lifting of the Israeli and Egyptian blockade of Gaza - so they are more skeptical about a deal now.

Secretary Kerry cannot negotiate directly with Hamas because the United States considers it a terrorist group, so he is working through Turkey and Qatar, which are presently the biggest backers of Hamas.

Turkey pressing for long-term solution

In a separate meeting with Secretary Kerry and Qatari Foreign Minister Khalid bin Mohammad al-Attiyah, the Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Ankara is pressing for a longer-term solution to the violence.

"Turkey will be working very hard to stop this bloodshed on the ground, to reach a sustainable cease-fire, and at the end of these efforts to have a two-state solution which is the real solution for all these disasters and bloodshed," he said.

US diplomatic efforts

Secretary Kerry led nine months of talks on a two-state solution that ended in April without success. But those talks were with the Fatah faction of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, not with those from the Hamas-led Gaza strip.

Israel has long pressed to restrict movement to Gaza to prevent Hamas from importing weapons. Qatari Foreign Minister Attiyah says a Gaza port could be monitored by the international community.

"The tragic situation of Gaza, I think, deserves now to have a free movement of goods, a free movement of trade. They deserve now to have their own port so they can trade in and out even if it is under international supervision," he said.

Secretary Kerry has spent nearly one week trying to a get a cease-fire that would lead to broader talks on the future of Gaza with the participation of the international community. But he says Israel can not have a cease-fire that does not protect it from Hamas attacks and Palestinians can not have a cease-fire in which they do not believe they are going to have the ability to, in his works "live and breath more freely and move within the crossings."

"Palestinians need to live with dignity with some freedom with goods that can come in and out, and they need a life that is free from the current restraints that they feel on a daily basis and obviously free from violence. But at the same time, Israelis need to live free from rockets and from tunnels that threaten them. And every conversation we've had embraces a discussion about these competing interests that are real for both," he said.

Kerry says each side has powerful feelings about their history and where they are, and the international community is working to break through that "to provide security for Israel and a future - economic and social - for the Palestinians. That's what this is about."

 Palestinian death toll in Gaza surpasses 1,000

Israel's offensive in response to Hamas rocket attacks from Gaza is now in its third week.

Medical personnel in Gaza say more than 100 bodies were pulled from homes during the truce Saturday, raising the Palestinian death toll above 1,000, including many civilians.  Thirty-seven Israeli soldiers and two Israeli civilians have died.

The 12-hour cease-fire went into effect in Gaza Saturday morning (05:00 UTC). Kerry has said the cease-fire is in honor of Eid - the Muslim holiday marking the end of Ramadan.

Israel said its security forces would continue searching for tunnels used by Palestinian militants during the lull.  

Gaza residents recover dead, stock supplies

Scott Bobb reports from Jerusalem

Palestinian officials say more than 70 bodies have been pulled from the rubble of destroyed buildings as a 12-hour temporary cease-fire Saturday between Israeli and Palestinian fighters brought an uneasy calm to the Gaza Strip.

Rescue workers in Gaza searched for bodies in the rubble of buildings hit by Israeli fire. Residents buried their dead and stocked up on supplies. People displaced by the fighting visited their homes during the cease-fire to inspect damage.

A spokesman for the Hamas group that controls Gaza said Friday it would observe the temporary truce.

Israel said its forces would hold their fire during what it called a humanitarian window but government spokesman Mark Regev warned of retaliation if this was violated.

"We will honor this humanitarian cease-fire but if Hamas attacks us, shoots rockets into Israel or attacks our troops we will of course reserve the right to defend ourselves," he said.

Just before the cease-fire took effect Saturday morning Palestinian militants clashed with Israeli military forces.

Palestinian officials said more than 1,000 Palestinians had been killed during the nearly three weeks of fighting and some 5,000 had been wounded. Relief groups said three-quarters of these were civilians, one-fourth of whom were children.

Thirty-seven Israeli soldiers were killed in the operation aimed at destroying Hamas rockets and tunnels into Israel. Two Israeli civilians and one foreign worker in Israel were also among the dead.

A Gaza resident who had taken shelter with his family at U.N. run school, Alaa Zaied, said conditions were difficult.

He says we are looking for a long-term truce. We do not want to keep waiting for a truce day after day. We are homeless, he says. We are living here in the schools and our children are very tired.

A resident of Tel Aviv, Shahar Binon, indicated many Israelis were also tired of the violence.

"Personally I think everybody is fed up with this situation. I think we have done whatever we need to do, both parties by the way, not only the Israeli party. And I think we have to understand that we have finished our business there," said Binon.

But Israel and Hamas appeared to be far apart on a cease-fire proposal put forth during the week by Egypt, the United Nations and the United States.

Israel wants to de-militarize the Gaza Strip, while Hamas says Israel must lift its blockade and cease all aggression.

  [Read More]

—–
Source: VOA News: War and Conflict