Fate of Gaza truce in balance

GAZA CITY, Aug 18 (agencies): The Gaza death toll rose over 2,000 Monday as the clock ticked towards a midnight deadline and negotiators in Cairo strove to hammer out a decisive end to weeks of bloodshed.
As millions in and around Gaza enjoyed an eighth day of calm brought on by two back-to-back truce agreements, tensions were once again on the rise ahead of a new deadline ending a five-day ceasefire which expires at 2100 GMT.
But there was little sign of any workable consensus emerging from ongoing talks between Israeli and Palestinian negotiators in Cairo who have just 12 hours to left to either reach an agreement, accept a further extension or risk a resumption of the fighting which has wreaked destruction across the densely-populated Mediterranean coastal enclave.
The aim is to broker a long-term arrangement to halt over a month of bloody fighting which erupted on July 8 although both sides have largely lowered their guns since August 4 thanks to a series of brief truce arrangements.
Meanwhile: Israeli troops Monday demolished the homes of two Palestinians it suspects of the abduction and killing of three teenagers in the occupied West Bank in June, the army said.
Troops set charges to destroy the homes of Hussam Kawasme and Amar Abu Aysha in the southern West Bank before dawn and sealed off the home of a third suspect, Marwan Kawasme, the army said.
Meanwhile, Gaza's health ministry said the death toll rose over 2,000 as more people succumbed to injuries sustained since the fighting began.
The figures showed 2,016 people had been killed and another 10,196 wounded.
Among the dead were 541 children, 250 women and 95 elderly men - or around 44 percent of the total number of victims.
Despite the concern over the looming deadline, the streets of Gaza City and the northern town of Jabaliya were relatively full, bustling with women and children shopping for food, as men sat outside in the shade, chatting or watching the world go by.