Israel on Saturday approved a four-hour extension of a temporary truce in Gaza, Israeli television said, after the Palestinian death toll topped 1,000 with the retrieval of more than 130 bodies.
Channel 10 said the security cabinet had agreed to prolong a 12-hour truce that went into effect on Saturday morning by four hours, extending it until midnight local time (2100 GMT).
Full StoryNot a stone is left standing at the Najjar family home in southern Gaza. Yesterday it was a three-story building, today medics dug 22 bodies of out the crater where it once stood.
The scene was one repeated across the Gaza Strip on Saturday, as desperate residents ventured out during a fragile 12-hour truce only to be met with evidence of death and destruction on a scale that reduced men to tears.
Full StoryAn Israeli colonel likens the hunt for tunnels dug by Palestinian militants from the coastal enclave of Gaza to the work of a detective.
"Finding these tunnels is like a detective trying to solve a murder with a number of clues. There are several pieces to the puzzle, including intelligence and technology," said Lieutenant Colonel Max of the army engineers for the Gaza area.
Full StoryA parliament session was held on Saturday in order to express Lebanon's solidarity with the Palestinian Gaza Strip and the Iraqi city of Mosul.
The session was chaired by Speaker Nabih Berri and attended by the majority of political blocs.
Full StoryU.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Friday no ceasefire deal had been reached yet in the conflict in Gaza as he and U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon urged a seven-day halt in fighting, which has killed 848 Palestinians in 18 days.
Kerry, who has been leading international efforts to reach a truce, said at a press conference in Cairo with Ban that both sides "still have some terminology" to agree to on a ceasefire, but added they had "fundamental framework" on a truce.
Full StoryRelations between Turkey and Israel have hit their "lowest level" amid the Israeli assault on the Gaza Strip, and may not be able to improve for some time, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc said.
Arinc, one of the founding members of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's Islamist-influenced AKP party, said Turkey had always calibrated its relations with Israel according to Israel's behavior towards the Palestinians.
Full StoryThousands of Jordanians took to the streets of Amman and other cities Friday to support Hamas and condemn Israel's offensive in Gaza, where more than 800 Palestinians have been killed.
Around 2,000 people demonstrated in central Amman after Friday midday prayers, chanting: "We sacrifice our blood and souls for you, Gaza," in support of Hamas' armed wing the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades.
Full StoryAs Ahmed Bulbul's body is brought into the emergency room at Gaza's Shifa hospital, a father standing nearby clamps his hand over his little boy's eyes.
Bulbul's leg has been ripped open by shrapnel, and the exposed flesh wobbles as he is taken into the chaotic emergency room at the Gaza City hospital.
Full StoryFrench police have banned a protest against Israel's Gaza offensive that was due to take place in Paris on Saturday, following several similar rallies that turned violent.
The ban, announced by police on Friday, comes in the wake of clashes earlier this month at pro-Palestinian demonstrations in which some protesters shouted anti-Semitic slogans and fought with police.
Full StoryThe World Health Organization urged on Friday the creation of a humanitarian corridor in the besieged Gaza Strip to allow for the evacuation of the wounded.
"WHO is calling for the creation of a humanitarian corridor ... to reach various crossings and to help in the evacuation of the large number of injured people," said Paul Garwood, a spokesman for the U.N. health agency.
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