Truce bid stepped up as death toll in Gaza crisis nears 100

ATTEMPTS are being stepped up to broker a cease-fire that would finally bring an end to almost a week of death and destruction during the Gaza crisis.

After a day which had seen Israel and Hamas continued to bombard one another, Egyptian-led peace negotiations were tentatively carrying on in the face of the rising death toll and Foreign Secretary William Hague added his voice to the chorus of international calls for a truce.

Yesterday Israeli aircraft killed a senior militant with a missile strike on a media centre, bringing the number of Palestinian deaths to 96.

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Hamas fighters have fired hundreds of rockets into Israel, including 75 yesterday, with one hitting an empty school.

Twenty rockets were intercepted by the Iron Dome anti-missile system, while others landed in open areas of Beersheva, Ashdod, Asheklon.

Negotiations have so far seen Israel and Hamas far apart in their demands, and while both sides said they were open to a diplomatic solution, both also warned they are prepared for further escalation if that failed.

Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal rejected Israel’s demands to stop its rocket fire, insisting Israel must meet Hamas’s demands for a lifting of the blockade of Gaza.

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He said: “We don’t accept Israeli conditions because it is the aggressor. We want a cease-fire along with meeting our demands.”

An Israeli official said it hoped to find a diplomatic solution to the crisis, adding Egypt was likely to play a key role in enforcing any truce.

Mr Hague also praised the role of Egyptian cease-fire negotiations.

Speaking after talks in Brussels in which EU foreign ministers supported continuing peace efforts, he said: “I am pleased that Israel has held back from a ground invasion while such negotiations go on, and that the rate of rocket attacks on Israel has fallen, for whatever reason, over the last 24 hours.

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“These are positive developments, but of course it remains a desperately serious and difficult situation”.

A joint declaration from the EU foreign ministers emphasised Israel’s “right to protect its population” but said any response to rocket attacks from Gaza had to be proportionate.

It said: “The European Union expresses grave concern about the situation in Gaza and Israel and deeply regrets the loss of civilian life on both sides.

“All attacks must end immediately as they cause unjustifiable suffering of innocent civilians. It (The EU) therefore calls for an urgent de-escalation and cessation of hostilities.”

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It went on: “There can be no justification for the deliberate targeting of innocent civilians. Israel has the right to protect its population from these kinds of attacks; in doing so it must act proportionately and ensure the protection of civilians at all times.”

Alongside the dead, the offensive has also wounded more than 700 people, including 225 children.

On the Israeli side, three civilians have died from Palestinian rocket fire and dozens have been wounded. The defence system has intercepted hundreds of rockets bound for populated areas.

Israel has killed dozens of wanted militants in strikes throughout the operation, the result, officials say, of intelligence gathered from its high-flying drones overhead and a network of informants.

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Egypt is brokering a cease-fire with the help of Turkey and Qatar.

A senior Egyptian official said that Hamas and Israel were each presenting Egypt with their conditions for a cease-fire.

The rising casualty toll was likely to intensify pressure on Israel to end the fighting. Hundreds of civilian casualties in an Israeli offensive in Gaza four years ago led to fierce international condemnation of Israel.

But Mr Mashaal said Gazans were prepared to keep fighting. “Gaza’s demand is not a halt to war. Its demand is for its legitimate rights.”

He added that included a stop to Israeli attacks, assassinations and a lifting of the blockade.