UPDATE 1315 GMT: The head of Israel’s military, Benny Gantz, has said it must help Gaza recover from airstrikes and the ground invasion:

Now we must help rehabilitate Gaza. We are doing everything we can to send them food. There is a combination of military necessity on the one hand, and the broad effort to refrain from harming, and helping as much as possible. We are entering a difficult period of aid and rehabilitation; we will help not out of any strategic considerations, but from humanitarian ones.


UPDATE 0815 GMT: Sayeeda Warsi, a Minister of State in the British Foreign Office, has resigned in protest of the Government’s approach to the Israel-Gaza War:

Warsi said in her letter (see copy) to Prime Minister David Cameron that support for Israel’s military operations “is morally indefensible, is not in Britain’s national interest and will have a long term detrimental impact on our reputation”.

In an interview just after her resignation, she said she did not believe Britain was acting as an “honest broker” in the conflict.

Warsi, made a life peer of the House of Lords in 2007, is also Minister for Faith and Communities. She was the first Muslim to serve in a British Cabinet.


UPDATE 0635 GMT: “A senior Israeli military source” has asserted that about 900 Gazan fighters have been killed since July 8.

Gazan officials, activists, and medical staff have said that more than 80% of the 1,867 killed, with more than 9,000 wounded, are civilians. Almost a quarter of the dead are children, almost 15% are women, and about 5% elderly men.


UPDATE 0625 GMT: As the 72-hour ceasefire began, UN Ban Ki-moon urged “utmost restraint” with both sides “commencing, as soon as possible, talks in Cairo on a durable ceasefire and the underlying issues”.

Ban also issued a pointed message of support for the Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas, who has been in the negotiations in Egypt: “He welcomes the proactive engagement of the Palestinian delegation under the leadership of President Abbas.”

Israel has been pressing Abbas to split from Hamas — who is also in the delegation in Cairo — with the Israeli Ambassador to the US saying on American TV last weekend that Abbas is “a supporter of terrorism”.

Meanwhile, the US has welcomed the ceasefire while putting the onus of maintaining it on the Gazan leadership.

“This is a real opportunity. We strongly support the initiative,” Deputy National Security Adviser Tony Blinken said. “The burden is on Hamas, I think, to demonstrate it will live up to the cease-fire.”


In an abrupt shift, Israel agreed Monday night to talks in Cairo on a resolution of the 28-day Gaza War, as well as to a ceasefire beginning at 8 a.m. (0500 GMT) Tuesday.

The Israeli military said that ground units will now withdraw from Gaza after a 19-day invasion, purportedly to destroy cross-border tunnels.

A “senior military source” supported the shift in strategy, and the withdrawal of forces, by saying that the mission is “complete” with the demolition of 32 tunnels.

Israel had pulled out of discussions this weekend following the breakdown of a short-lived ceasefire last Friday, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had pledged to continue operations until all rocket fire from Gaza ceased. The Israeli military stepped up bombardment and, after a seven-hour “humanitarian window” on Monday, resumed attacks in the afternoon.

An “Israeli diplomatic source” said Netanyahu personally made the decision to accept the ceasefire, presented by Egypt after two days of discussions with a Palestinian delegation including Hamas, and presented it to the Security Cabinet last night.

Meanwhile, the Gazan Health Ministry said 18 Palestinians died on Monday, as 32 bodies in total were recovered.

A brother and sister, aged 12 and 5, were killed in an Israeli strike on Rafah overnight.

The Gazan death toll is now 1,867, including 431 children, 243 women, and 79 elderly men. More than 9,500 Gazans have been wounded.

Israel claimed that one of those whom it killed in a morning strike on the Shati refugee camp was an Islamic Jihad commander, with another commander seriously injured.

An eight-year-old girl also died in the strike.

The UN revised its total of displaced Gazans in its shelters to almost 275,000 — about 13% of the territory’s population.