With just hours to go before the 72-hour truce in Gaza expires, Hamas says it has not agreed to an extension.
Hamas says it is ready to reengage in hostilities against Israel if its demands - which include an end to the siege in Gaza - are not forthcoming.
The militant group is part of a delegation of Palestinian representatives, negotiating a permanent truce with Israeli delegates in Cairo.
Hamas military capabilities were severely diminished in the last month due to Israel's incomparable strength. But in a press conference in Gaza today, Hamas says its fighters are ready rockets are trained at Israel.
The temporary ceasefire will expire tomorrow at 8am unless extended.
The Israeli army withdrew from the Gaza Strip and declared an up to 500 metre-wide 'no go zone' on the Gaza side of the border.
The US Secretary of State John Kerry was asked whether he supported Palestinian demands for a lifting of Israel's blockade on Gaza. He told the BBC "What we want to do is support the Palestinians in their desire to improve their lives and to get food in and to open crossings and to reconstruct and have greater freedom."
This, he said, had to come "with a greater responsibility towards Israel, which means giving up rockets".
The United Nations flag has been flying at half-mast today at its New York Headquarters in memory of the UN staff members killed since the beginning of the conflict in Gaza on July 8th, and in solidarity with the families and friends of those injured.
The UN flag at half-mast | Image: UN Photo/Mark Garten (file)
In Gaza, flags at the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) fields and installations were lowered yesterday in honour of their 11 colleagues killed in shellings in Gaza.
"We are honoured and touched by the many expressions of sympathy and actions of support we have witnessed" said UNRWA Commissioner-General, Pierre Krähenbühl, during an informal briefing to the General Assembly in New York.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who participated in the meeting, thanked the staff for their bravery and stressed that attacks against UN premises, along with other suspected breaches of international law, must be swiftly investigated.
UNRWA schools and other buildings have been used as temporary shelters for the nearly 270,000 displaced people throughout the Gaza Strip. On August 3rd, a third school in 10 days was hit.
Mr. Ban's Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Robert Serry, is also in Cairo where Egyptian mediators are meeting Israeli and Palestinian representatives to negotiate longer-term ceasefire.
