CAIRO
Egypt has called on Israel and Palestinian factions to cease fire in the Gaza Strip for 72 hours as of Tuesday morning.
"We call for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip for 72 hours as of 05:00 GMT on Tuesday," the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said in a Monday statement.
The statement also called on Israel and Palestinian factions to send delegations to Cairo for talks aimed at implementing an Egyptian initiative for a durable ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
Israel has been pounding the blockaded Gaza Strip – home to 1.8 million people – since July 7.
At least 1867 Palestinians, mostly civilians, have been killed and 9450 wounded in unrelenting Israeli attacks since then.
The Israeli army has confirmed that 64 troops had been killed and 400 others injured in the ongoing Gaza military operation.
Gaza-based resistance factions, meanwhile, have continued to fire rockets at Israeli cities, killing three civilians.
The offensive – codenamed "Operation Protective Edge," is the self-proclaimed Jewish state's third major offensive against the densely-populate Gaza Strip within the last six years.
By Tamer Hussein
www.aa.com.tr/en
