Diplomatic drive intensifies as Gaza death toll reaches to 350

GAZA: Fresh Israeli bombardments killed five people in Gaza Sunday, hiking the death toll from the assault to over 350.Israel pressed its air, sea and ground offensive against the besieged coastal territory.Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal was to meet Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas in Qatar to discuss an Egyptian-proposed truce on Sunday, and the movement said it had received an invitation to Cairo for ceasefire talks.

UN Security Council opens urgent talks on Gaza

UNITED NATIONS: The UN Security Council opened urgent talks on the escalating violence in Gaza to consider ways of stepping up ceasefire efforts.

The 15-member Council met as UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was holding talks with leaders in the region amid a spike in violence that left more than 100 Palestinians dead in a single day.

“We have to know from the secretary-general the result of his efforts, his travels and whether there is any hope of moving forward to a ceasefire,” said French Ambassador Gerard Araud as he headed into the meeting.

Palestinian teen killed by Israel army in West Bank – medics

Israeli soldiers shot dead a 14-year-old Palestinian in overnight clashes in the occupied West Bank as they pressed a hunt for three missing Israeli teenagers, medical sources said Friday.

The teenager was killed in Dura, south of the West Bank city of Hebron, which has been the principal focus of the massive Israeli operation.
Palestinian security forces identified the boy killed as Mohammed Dudin.

Egypt judiciary extends Mursi detention

Cairo : Egypt’s judiciary said on Monday it was extending ousted president Mohammed Mursi’s detention for a further 15 days pending an investigation into his collaboration with Hamas.

Mursi, overthrown by the military on July 3, was placed in detention on July 26 over his links with the Palestinian Islamist militant group, which rules neighbouring Gaza.