World diplomats meet to discuss ceasefire possibilities in Gaza

World Today

Palestinians in the Gaza Strip poured into the streets on Saturday to stock up on food supplies the 12-hour humanitarian truce agreed by Israel and Hamas giving people a short respite from nearly three weeks of fighting.

But for some the ceasefire came too late. In the south of the Gaza Strip hundreds gathered to mourn 18 members of a single family, including five children, who were killed in an airstrike just hours before the truce came into effect.

Meanwhile diplomatic efforts to end the conflict in Gaza moved to Paris on Saturday where U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry held talks with the foreign ministers of Turkey, Qatar and some European countries in the hopes of agreeing a longer ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

This meeting today in Paris is not about blame or responsibility regarding the present escalation concerning that, the opinions of some of the Foreign Ministers gathered here today might differ. What this meeting is about is that we need to put a stop to people dying and that’s why I’m glad that the Americans, French, British and Italian Foreign Ministers have gathered here today together with representatives from the Arab world and Turkey.

Despite the difficulties in getting Israel and Hamas to agree to end the conflict the Paris meeting ended with a note of optimism from the French Foreign Minister.

World diplomats meet to discuss ceasefire possibilities in Gaza

Palestinians in the Gaza Strip poured into the streets on Saturday to stock up on food supplies the 12-hour humanitarian truce agreed by Israel and Hamas giving people a short respite from nearly three weeks of fighting.