Gaza

Turkey and Qatar are forging a plan to produce a truce between Palestinian groups and Israel to end 10 days of violence in Gaza amid additional efforts from Cairo.

Meanwhile, an Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said his country and Hamas “have agreed on a cease-fire” that would begin on July 18, but Hamas denied the report.

The leader of Turkey’s main opposition party has called on Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to return the “medal of courage” given to him by the American Jewish Committee (AJC) in 2004, in reaction to Israel’s offensive against Palestinians.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu has dismissed Israeli Foreign
Minister Avigdor Lieberman’s accusations that Turkey and Qatar attempted to “sabotage” the Gaza cease-fire proposal drafted in Egypt.

“I have never taken the Israeli foreign minister [Lieberman] seriously,” Davutoğlu said on July 17 in a televised interview.

Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman has accused Turkey and Qatar of sabotaging the Gaza cease-fire proposal drafted by Egypt.

The four cousins, children of Gaza fishermen, were playing hide and seek at the beach despite their parents' warnings.

An Israeli official said on Thursday there is an agreement for a comprehensive Gaza ceasefire starting on Friday.
   
In Gaza, there was no immediate confirmation from Hamas and other Palestinian militant groups that they had agreed to halt 10 days of cross-border warfare.
   

Israel's military says three mortar shells were fired from Gaza after a humanitarian cease-fire went into effect.
     
Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld had earlier said two rockets fell in open areas in southern Israel, causing no damage or injuries. He said the rockets landed at 12 p.m. local time, two hours after the cease-fire began.
     

Israel and Hamas have agreed to a U.N. request to briefly halt hostilities July 17 on humanitarian grounds, after an Israeli strike killed four Palestinian children on a beach, while efforts intensify to secure a formal truce.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is once again expressing righteous fury at Israel over Gaza and at the United Nations for its inability to do anything. He is also angry at Muslim countries for simple watching as Israel bombs rain down on Gaza during the holy month of Ramadan.

The prolonged problem of the Middle East, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, was propelled to the top of the world agenda two weeks ago with yet another round of senseless killings. The chain of events started with the abduction on June 12 and later killing of three Israeli teenagers in the West Bank and the subsequent revenge killing of a Palestinian teenager in Jerusalem on July 3.