GAZA-
A 12-hour ceasefire entered into force on Gaza Strip on Saturday as the bloody conflict between Israel and Hamas entered its 19th day.
Both parties agreed to observe a temporary ceasefire, after US Secretary of State John Kerry was unable to reach a lasting truce during talks Friday in Cairo.
In the hours leading up to the pause, however, the violence continued, with Israeli air strikes killing 23 people, among them four children and a paramedic, Gaza medical services said.
The ongoing conflict has claimed the lives of 888 Palestinians, most of them innocent civilians, and 39 Israelis, all but two of them soldiers. The bloodshed began on July 8 when Israel launched an operation to stamp out rocket fire from Gaza and destroy Hamas tunnels.
The respite came after pessimism prevailed, with the Israeli security cabinet rejecting a ceasefire proposed by Kerry, according to reports in the Israeli media.
Foreign ministers of top stakeholders in the conflict, including John Kerry, are to gather in Paris on Saturday to hold talks aimed at reaching a long lasting truce.
On Friday, the top US diplomat said in Cairo that both Israel and Hamas “still have some terminology” to agree to on a ceasefire, but added they had “fundamental framework” on a truce.
Under the proposal, once a humanitarian lull takes hold, delegations from Israel and Hamas, that have mediated talks between the two in the past as well, would arrive in Cairo for indirect talks that could lead to a lasting deal.