Kerry Meets with UN, Egypt as Gaza Truce Push Builds
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – US Secretary of State John Kerry huddled Friday with UN chief Ban Ki-moon and Egypt’s foreign minister as pressure built for a ceasefire in Gaza.
Kerry, who spent another night in Cairo reaching out by telephone to regional officials, met Ban and Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukri for around half an hour.
The top US diplomat has said he would speak to reporters later Friday, on what could be the end of his week-long mission to the region, AFP reported.
This comes as the 18-day Israeli offensive on Gaza has so far claimed the lives of nearly 850 Palestinians, including scores of innocent children, and more than 5,200 others have been reported injured.
Israel claims that its large-scale strikes on the besieged Gaza Strip are targeting Hamas fighters and a network of underground tunnels but most of those killed in Gaza were civilians, including scores of children.
