Egypt Calls For Immediate Gaza Ceasefire
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - Egypt called on Israel and the Palestinians to accept an indefinite ceasefire and resume indirect talks in Cairo to end the Gaza crisis, Egypt's foreign ministry said in a statement.
The ministry called for "concerned parties to accept a ceasefire of unlimited duration and to resume indirect negotiations in Cairo".
Earlier, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi had met his Palestinian counterpart, Mahmoud Abbas, to discuss the conflict that has killed more than 2,000 people.
A previous round of truce talks collapsed on Tuesday, shattering nine days of calm, as the deadly six-week conflict between Israel and Hamas resumed.
Since then, 84 Palestinians and one Israeli have died as a result of the violence, Al Jazeera reported.
"As soon as a ceasefire goes into effect, the two sides can sit down and discuss their demands," Abbas said, adding that the Palestinian delegation would include Hamas as in past rounds.
Abbas's meeting with Sisi came after he held two rounds of talks in Qatar on Thursday and Friday with exiled Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal, whose movement is the de facto ruler of Gaza.
Palestinian health officials say 2,103 people, most of them civilians, have been killed in the deadliest fighting since the 2005 end of the second intifada. Three Israeli civilians, a Thai national and 64 soldiers have also been killed.
