50 more killed in Gaza

JERUSALEM, July 24 (AFP):- Washington's top diplomat John Kerry Thursday pressed efforts to end bloodshed in Gaza, reaching out to allies of Hamas as the Islamist movement's war with Israel raged into a 17th day.

Medics reported more than 50 people killed in Gaza Thursday, mostly in the south, hiking the overall Palestinian toll to 746 since Israel launched a military operation to halt rocket fire from the besieged territory on July 8.

Earlier Thursday, US airlines lifted a flight ban to Israel, with other international airlines expected to follow suit.

The US national aviation agency had imposed the restriction on Tuesday after a rocket hit a house very close to the runways, in a move mirrored by Europe.

It was renewed late on Wednesday, prompting Hamas, the de facto power in Gaza, to hail the suspension of Tel Aviv flights as a "great victory for the resistance."

Shortly afterwards, the US agency rescinded the move.

Kerry-who is in Egypt, which has drafted a truce proposal for the Israel-Hamas conflict-spoke by phone with the foreign ministers of Qatar and Turkey, a US official said.

Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal is based in Qatar, while Turkey's Islamist-oriented Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has harshly criticised Israel's assault on Hamas-ruled Gaza as well as Egypt's role in trying to clinch a ceasefire.

A US official said Kerry was hoping Qatar and Turkey would use their influence to encourage Hamas to accept a ceasefire plan, which the Islamist group has so far rejected.

Meshaal vowed late on Wednesday there would be no end to the fighting without the lifting of Israel's eight-year blockade on Gaza.

Despite Hamas's intransigence, the skies over southern Israel remained quiet for seven hours, the army said, in what was the calmest night since the Israeli operation began on July 8.

Since 5:00 am (0200 GMT), just six projectiles struck the south, while another three were intercepted, a spokeswoman said.

On Wednesday, the Red Cross and Palestinian ambulances managed to evacuate 150 people from the area following negotiations with both sides, and another convoy of 10 ambulances entered the area early on Thursday, an ICRC spokeswoman told AFP.

In Jabaliya refugee camp, residents gathered at first light to examine the damage after an air strike destroyed houses and a mosque.

The Gaza-based Palestinian Centre for Human Rights has said more than 80 percent of the casualties were civilians, and a quarter of them children, triggering growing international alarm over the civilian body count.

Netanyahu said Israel was doing everything it could to minimise casualties, pinning the blame on Hamas for its "grotesque (and) inhuman" use of civilians as human shields.

Hammond then flew to Cairo where he was due to hold talks with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.

UN chief Ban Ki-moon was also in Egypt and Israel earlier this week, in the hope of hammering out a regional truce deal, with Kerry acknowledging there had been "some progress in moving toward that goal."