Iran Press/Middle East: Diplomatic moves towards a ceasefire in the Israeli regime's attacks on Gaza gathered pace on Thursday after US President Joe Biden called for a de-escalation, but Israel kept up its bombardment of Gaza and Hamas rocket fire resumed after a pause.
A senior official in the Hamas resistance movement predicted a ceasefire within days. An Israeli minister said the regime would halt its offensive only when it had achieved its goals, Reuters reported.
Rocket attacks on Israel stopped for eight hours on Thursday - the 11th day of the Israeli regime's attacks - before resuming against communities near the Israel-Gaza border.
Since the fighting began on May 10, health officials in Gaza say 230 Palestinians, including 65 children and 39 women, have been killed and more than 1,700 wounded in aerial bombardments.
Israeli authorities put the death toll to date at 12 in Israel, with 336 people treated for injuries in rocket attacks that have caused panic and sent people rushing into shelters.
Biden on Wednesday urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to seek a "de-escalation". An Egyptian security source said the sides had agreed in principle to a ceasefire but details needed to be worked out.
A Hamas political official, Moussa Abu Marzouk, said he believed the efforts to reach a ceasefire would succeed.
"I expect a ceasefire to be reached within a day or two, and the ceasefire will be on the basis of mutual agreement."
Qatar-based Al Jazeera television reported that UN Middle East peace envoy Tor Wennesland was meeting Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh in Qatar. A diplomatic source said Wennesland was in the Persian Gulf nation as part of the UN's "intensified efforts to restore calm in Gaza and Israel".
205/214
Read More:
PIJ's Chief: Israel; big liar
Palestinian resistance launches retaliatory attacks on two air bases, several Israeli settlements
