Diplomats in Paris Call for Extension to 12-Hour Gaza Truce


Diplomats in Paris Call for Extension to 12-Hour Gaza Truce

TEHRAN (Tasnim) - US Secretary of State John Kerry and top diplomats from Europe and the Middle East gathered in Paris Saturday called for an extension to a temporary ceasefire currently in force between Israel and Hamas.

Both sides have agreed to a 12-hour "humanitarian" truce in Gaza that started on Saturday morning, putting a brief stop to a conflict that has killed nearly 1,000 Palestinians -- a large majority of them civilians.

"We all call on parties to extend the humanitarian ceasefire currently in force, by 24 hours that could be renewed," France's Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius told reporters after the meeting, which lasted more than two hours.

Kerry and Fabius met with their counterparts from Britain, Germany, Italy, Qatar and Turkey, as well as a representative from the European Union, AFP reported.

"It's now about reaching a common position that we must put an end to the deaths," German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier had said before the talks began.

Kerry, who has been leading international efforts to reach a truce, has been in regular contact with the foreign ministers of Turkey and Qatar as both countries wield influence on Hamas.

 

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