Grisly finds in Gaza ceasefire

Workers have found more than 70 bodies under rubble in the Gaza Strip since the truce began at 8 a.m. (0500 UTC) on Saturday. The Israeli Defence Forces have pledged to hold their fire until 8 p.m., but said troops would continue to search for and destroy tunnels used by Palestinian militants.

Hamas announced late on Friday that it and other Islamist militant groups would abide by the brief truce.

Meanwhile, top international diplomats are presssing on with efforts to try to reach a more permanent ceasefire. US Secretary of State Kerry was meeting in Paris with French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, Germany's Frank-Walter Steinmeier and their counterparts from the United Kingdom, Italy, Qatar, Turkey and the European Union. In a statement, the German Foreign Ministry called the meeting an attempt to "pool international efforts to explore opportunities for progress toward a ceasefire for Israel and Gaza."

Also on Saturday, German airlines Lufthansa and Air Berlin announced they were resuming flights to Tel Aviv after suspending them for several days due to concerns about safety.

Gaza toll grows

Saturday's discovery of more than 70 bodies, along with shelling that killed more than 20 people just before the ceasefire came into effect, have brought the death toll in Gaza, a tiny Palestinian territory and the home to 1.8 million people, to about 930 people, roughly 75 percent of them civilians - including close to 200 children. The attacks have left 5,700 people injured and displaced tens of thousands. The United Nations has estimated that about half the Gaza Strip is now unsafe.

Since Israel launched Operation Protective Edge with airstrikes on July 8, militants have fired 2,500 rockets from Gaza. At least 37 IDF troops have been killed in combat operations, and three civilians died after being hit by militant rocket fire into Israel.

According to the IDF, militants fired 75 rockets into Israel on Friday. The country's Iron Dome missile defense system intercepted 15 of those.

In the West Bank on Friday, at least five people were killed by IDF fire during "day of rage" protests, with about 150 injured, according to hospital officials. Witnesses said an Israeli settler killed another man.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who only recently has engaged Hamas in an uneasy political alliance, has called for more demonstrations in the West Bank while at the same time working to secure a long-term ceasefire deal for Gaza.

mkg/pfd (Reuters, AFP, dpa, AP)