Protests in Paris break out into violence with police using batons and tear gas as last minutes of ceasefire tick by

Thousands march from Israeli embassy in London to the Houses of Parliament as international anger grows

World leaders gather in Paris for crisis talks as 1,500 riot police prepare to quell pro-Palestinian protests

Tense halt in fighting began at 6am UK time yesterday but Israel will continue searching for tunnels

Those killed included 18 members of the same family who died in village near Khan Younis, southern Gaza

WARNING GRAPHIC CONTENT: Palestinian death toll reaches 1,050 as scores of bodies are pulled from the rubble


Israel has extended a humanitarian ceasefire in the Gaza Strip for another 24 hours, but Hamas, which dominates the coastal enclave, said that it would only accept the truce if Israeli troops left the territory.

Israeli ministers had signalled that a comprehensive deal to end the 20-day conflict with Hamas and its allies, in which at least 1,050 Gazans - mostly civilians - have been killed, and 42 soldiers and three civilians in Israel have died, was remote.

'At the request of the United Nations, the cabinet has approved a humanitarian hiatus until tomorrow at midnight local time (2100 GMT Sunday),' the official, who was not named, said in a statement after the cabinet session held in Tel Aviv had ended. 'The IDF (Israel Defence Forces) will act against any breach of the ceasefire.'

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Palestinians walk by the rubble of houses destroyed by Israeli strikes in Beit Hanoun, northern Gaza Strip. Thousands of Gaza residents who had fled Israel-Hamas fighting streamed back to devastated border areas during a lull Saturday, and were met by large-scale destruction

A Palestinian news assistant working with foreign media points to his family's house which was destroyed by Israeli strikes in Beit Hanoun, northern Gaza Strip

Yesterday, Gazans took advantage of the lull in fighting to recover their dead and stock up on food supplies, flooding into the streets after the ceasefire began at 8am (0500 GMT) to discover scenes of massive destruction in some areas.

The positions of both Israel and Hamas regarding a long-lasting halt to hostilities have remained far apart.

Hamas wants an end to an Israeli-Egyptian blockade of Gaza before agreeing to halt hostilities. Israeli officials that said any ceasefire must allow the military to carry on hunting down the Hamas tunnel network that crisscrosses the Gaza border.

A Palestinian woman carries her belongings past the rubble of houses destroyed by Israeli strikes in Beit Hanoun, northern Gaza Strip

A picture taken yesterday shows the rubble of destroyed buildings and homes in the Shejaiya residential district of Gaza City, as families returned to find their homes ground into rubble by relentless Israeli tank fire and air strikes

Palestinians walk by the rubble of houses destroyed by Israeli strikes in Beit Hanoun, northern Gaza Strip yesterday

Israel says some of the tunnels reach into Israeli territory and are meant to carry out attacks on its citizens. Other underground passages serve as weapons caches and Hamas bunkers.

The IDF said it had uncovered four such tunnel shafts inside Gaza during the truce yesterday.

The Israeli official added that troops would continue to act against any breaches of the ceasefire, adding that the military would investigate the tunnels during the entire 24-hour period.

He said the cabinet would reconvene today to consider a continuation of the operation 'until calm is restored to Israeli citizens for an extended period'.

The Gaza turmoil has stoked tensions among Palestinians in Arab East Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank.

An Israeli artillery cannon fires from southern Israel into the Gaza Strip, early yesterday, just before the start of the 12 hour humanitarian aid ceasefire. The Israeli military said it would continue destroying Hamas's tunnel networks under the Gaza border even during the ceasefire

Palestinian Muhammed Abu Auda (left) accompanied by his relative Yousef Abu Auda, inspects the rubble of what used to be the house of his father, destroyed by Israeli strikes in Beit Hanoun, northern Gaza Strip

Doctors reported that eight Palestinians were killed on Friday in incidents near the West Bank cities of Nablus and Hebron - the sort of death toll reminiscent of previous uprisings against Israel's prolonged military rule there.

Despite Israel extending the ceasefire, Hamas has said that it fired five rockets at Israel late last night, casting new doubt on international efforts to broker an end to 20 days of fighting.

Hamas said two of the rockets were aimed at Tel Aviv. Police in Israel's second-largest city dispersed a peace rally attended by several thousand people because of the threat, a spokesman said.

In Paris, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and European foreign ministers met yesterday to find ways to transform the initial 12-hour lull into a sustainable truce.

'Rockets have just been fired at Israel despite the humanitarian truce being extended' until 2100 GMT, Israeli army spokesman Avital Leibovich wrote earlier on Twitter shortly after 1700 GMT, when the original truce had been due to end.

Another military spokesman told AFP that three mortar rounds had been fired at Israel from Gaza but had caused neither casualties nor damage.

Warning sirens sounded in southern Israel shortly after 8pm local time, when the original truce was due to expire.

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Picking up the pieces: A Palestinian woman walks across the rubble of destroyed buildings in Gaza City as residents returned to examine damage in a 12-hour ceasefire The long walk home: Palestinians returned this morning to check on their homes and businesses in the northern district of Beit Hanun, Gaza

A Palestinian of the Keferna family runs to save his pet birds during the temporary truce

Upon their return, Palestinians pour water to save the family's birds after finding them alive at the family house destroyed by Israeli strikes

More than 1,050 Palestinians have now died in the 20-day Gaza conflict after scores of bodies were pulled from rubble during a tense ceasefire lasting less than a day.

JOHN PRESCOTT CALLS ISRAELI BEHAVIOUR 'A WAR CRIME' Israel's 'brutally disproportionate and grossly indiscriminate' bombardment of Gaza must be regarded as a war crime, Labour former deputy prime minister John Prescott said. Lord Prescott said any other country would be made an international 'pariah' if it acted in the same way, as the reported death toll from the offensive against Hamas reached four figures. And he directly compared the situation in Gaza with a concentration camp, suggesting the Nazi Holocaust should 'give Israelis a unique sense of perspective and empathy with the victims of a ghetto'. Thousands of pro-Palestinian demonstrators earlier marched through London at the same time as hostilities were paused for 12 hours under an uneasy humanitarian truce. Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond, speaking after crisis talks with US secretary of state John Kerry and other foreign ministers in Paris, urged both sides to extend the cessation of violence in a bid to stem the loss of life. But after Israel announced it would observe another four hours and consider a United Nation's plea for a 24-hour halt, Hamas resumed firing rockets at Israel. Writing in the Sunday Mirror, Mr Prescott said: 'Imagine a country claiming the lives of nearly three times as many as were lost in the MH17 plane tragedy in less than three weeks. 'A nation which blasted a hospital, shelled and killed children from a gunboat as they played football on the beach and was responsible for 1,000 deaths, at least 165 of them children, in just two weeks. 'Surely it would be branded a pariah state, condemned by the United Nations, the US and the UK. The calls for regime change would be -deafening. 'But these howls of protest are muted. The condemnation softened. For this is Israel. 'Israel's hawkish Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu trots out the same excuses. Hamas 'militants' in Gaza fired their rockets first. Israel has a right to defend itself. It needs to protect its citizens. 'And he's right on all three counts - but as always with Israel this is not the full story. The military action supposedly targeting Hamas is so brutally disproportionate and so grossly indiscriminate that it makes it impossible not to view Israel's actions as war crimes.' He said Hamas was wrong to fire rockets and should recognise Israel's right to exist, but suggested a violent response was inevitable. 'Israel brands them terrorists but it is acting as judge, jury and -executioner in the -concentration camp that is Gaza,' he said. 'What happened to the Jewish people at the hands of the Nazis is appalling. But you would think those atrocities would give Israelis a unique sense of perspective and empathy with the victims of a ghetto.' He said Labour leader Ed Miliband had shown 'true leadership' by condemning the Israeli military incursion, accusing Prime Minister David Cameron of 'sitting on the fence'. Speaking after meeting with Mr Kerry along with foreign ministers from other EU nations, Turkey and Qatar, Mr Hammond said they had agreed that a longer truce was needed to prevent further loss of life. More than 1,000 Palestinians, mainly civilians, are reported killed over the past 18 days while Israel has lost 37 soldiers and two civilians. 'Everybody understands that there is an absolute humanitarian necessity to see this ceasefire extended,' he said. 'The necessity right now is to stop the loss of life and you stop the loss of life by getting this ceasefire to roll over for 12 hours, or 24 hours or 48 hours, and then again and again.' The halt in fighting is taking place to allow civilians in Gaza to receive aid and evacuate to safer areas, but there are fears that an upsurge of violence could follow. Hamas accused Israel of using the pause to prepare for a heightened offensive. Mr Hammond said he and his counterparts were prepared to commit resources to support the regeneration of Gaza once a resolution had been agreed and the security of Israel had also been secured. Earlier International Development Secretary Justine Greening announced that the UK is to provide an additional £2 million in emergency assistance to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency's (UNRWA) Gaza Flash Appeal. It brings the amount released this week to £7 million, with the money funding basic shelter, blankets, hygiene kits, nappies and other vital supplies for the tens of thousands of people forced to flee their homes. Mr Hammond yesterday issued a reminder to Israel of its obligations under international law to take 'all feasible precautions' to avoid civilian casualties after a UN school came under fire, killing at least 15 Palestinians. Advertisement

The truce came as protests erupted in London and Paris, with French police using tear gas and batons to quell a 'banned' protest by pro-Palestinians.

In Gaza, the dead included 18 members of the same family who were killed by Israeli tank shelling moments before the truce began this morning.

As the guns and bombs fell silent and Israeli soldiers reloaded tank ammunition, thousands of residents returned to survey the damage and watch rescue workers retrieve bodies from under collapsed buildings.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry (third left) stands with (left to right) Qatari Foreign Minister Khaled al-Attiyah, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Italian Foreign Minister Federica Mogherini

France's interior minister called on organisers of the banned pro-Gaza protest to observe the order, fearing anti-Semitic violence.

Bernard Cazeneuve made his public appeal shortly before today's demonstration in Paris was to start. Hours earlier, the Council of State, France's top administrative body, ruled the protest ban was legal.

A court had ruled likewise, but organisers said they still planned to hold the protest.

Pakistani Shiite Muslims burn Israel and United States flags, and torch effigies of Israeli and US representatives during a rally against Israel and the United States

France has Western Europe's largest Jewish and Muslim populations. Two banned pro-Gaza protests last weekend, in Paris and Sarcelles, to the north, degenerated into violence and attacks on synagogues. On Wednesday, an authorized demonstration was peaceful.

Cazeneuve said chatter on social networks indicated a risk that today's protest could become a 'cortege of violence.'

Thousands of activists were preparing to gather in other major cities around the world, including at the Israeli embassy in London, where police estimated at least 10,000 were due to march on Parliament.

Pressure: Seven leaders demanded an extension to the 12-hour ceasefire as marches gathered around the world, including outside the Israeli embassy in London March: The large group, estimated to be around 10,000-strong by police, filed past London landmarks including the Royal Albert Hall en route to Parliament Support: In Newcastle, protesters in support of Palestinians carried a coffin through the streets as they called on Israel to halt the conflict Big questions: A protestor holding a placard during a protest on the Republique Square in Paris, which had been banned by the authorities Stand-off: French riot police prepare their shields as they face up to protestors in the capital, near a meeting of world leaders. They later used tear gas Movement: A rally in London today reached Parliament Square as it was revealed more than 1,000 people had been killed in Gaza, with scores pulled from rubble The pro-Palestinians gathered waving placards and shouting loud slogans in Kensington, west London, in an echo of other Saturday protests including in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Yesterday foreign ministers from seven nations called in vain for an urgent extension of the 12-hour ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said: 'All of us call on the parties to extend the military ceasefire that is currently underway.' The gathering in Paris included the foreign ministers of Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Qatar, Turkey and the United States. An EU official also attended the meeting at the French foreign ministry. 'BANNED' PROTEST IN FRANCE ERUPTS INTO VIOLENCE AS POLICE USE BATONS AND TEAR GAS By PETER ALLEN IN PARIS A pro-Palestine demonstration which the French government tried to ban exploded into violence in Paris yesterday. Riot police used tear gas and baton charges on at least 3,000 protesters who had defied the authorities by turning up to contest Israel's land and air offensive in Gaza. 'There are widespread disturbances - everything is being done to bring them under control,' said a CRS riot policeman in Place de la Republique. Clashes: Police in Paris used tear gas on protesters in the French capital's Republique square. The demo had been banned by the French government Protest: Pro-Palestinian demonstrators spray fumes with the colours of the Palestinian flag on the Republique square in Paris Masses of police gathered around the Nazareth Synagogue in a side street, as groups chanted 'Israel-Murderer'. The scenes made a mockery of a nearby meeting at the French foreign ministry, where world leaders including US Secretary of State John Kerry and Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond were involved in Middle East peace talks Amnesty International was among those who had issued a stern rebuke to France's Socialist administration for banning the pro-Palestine demonstration. It came as 1,500 riot police flooded the city as protesters pledged to take to the streets anyway. Despite a legal ban confirmed in the courts last night, vast crowds gathered to express their outrage at the ongoing slaughter in Gaza. Statement: The demonstrators in Paris waved Palestinian flags and French flags as they protested near a crisis meeting of world leaders Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said he wanted to 'prevent more hate from spilling out on the streets of Paris,' adding: 'I urge the organisers to abandon the event' Spokesman Genevieve Garrigos said the ban appeared to be an admission by France that it could not control its own people, and that the 'peaceful intentions' of the vast majority of protesters should be respected. Another march on Wednesday involving around 15,000 people was entirely peaceful. Despite this, Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said he wanted to 'prevent more hate from spilling out on the streets of Paris,' adding: 'I urge the organisers to abandon the event on Saturday.' But Omar Alsoumi, a lawyer involved in the protest, said: 'The government is trying to ban a fundamental right.' Olivier Besancenot, a former presidential candidate and leader of the new anti-capitalist party, had called on 'all democratic forces, political, trade unions and associations to protest against the ban and to converge on' the Place de la Republique, where the demonstration will take place. The conflict has stirred up huge passions in France - home to the largest Muslim and Jewish communities in Western Europe. There are more than five million Muslims in France, and half a million Jews, many of them living in Paris. Advertisement

Killing: As the Palestinian death toll in the 19-day conflict topped 900, Gaza's Health Ministry said 18 members of the Al-Najar family died in the southern Gaza Strip shortly before today's truce took effect. Pictured, rescue workers remove the body of one of the family members as villagers look on near the city of Khan Younis Mourning: Palestinians watch as rescue workers find the body of a member of al-Najar family, after removing it from under the rubble of their home Ceasfire: Rescue workers removed the body of a member of the Al-Najar family using a digger after the brief truce was agreed at 8am local time Carnage: The death toll during 19-day conflict has reached at least 900 Palestinians and 40 Israelis including 37 soldiers. Pictured: Rescue workers in southern Gaza More bodies: Paramedics stretcher away the charred body of an ambulance driver killed the previous night by Israeli fire in Beit Hanun Grief: A Palestinian woman reacts after seeing her house destroyed in Gaza City. Hundreds of people returned to under-fire neighbourhoods during the ceasefire It also insisted troops 'shall respond if terrorists choose to exploit' the lull to attack Israeli soldiers or civilians. The military also said 'operational activities to locate and neutralise tunnels in the Gaza Strip will continue.' A spokesman for Hamas said all Palestinian factions would abide by the brief truce. Hundreds of Palestinians poured into the streets in the minutes after the truce took force, some on foot to inspect damage to their homes, and many lined up outside banks to withdraw cash and stock up on supplies. Residents of Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza strip walked through destroyed streets lined with damaged houses and entire buildings reduced to rubble. Some who had not seen each other for days embraced as they surveyed the wreckage around them. 'We lived through a night of horror. The shelling was all around our house,' said Hanan al-Zaanin, standing with four of her children outside their home in Beit Hanoun, 30,000 of whose residents had fled the area. Brief truce: Smoke from an Israeli air strike rises into the air over Gaza City early this morning, where a truce was agreed from 8am local time for 12 hours Fireball: Shortly before the truce was agreed, another huge explosion was seen in Gaza City in the early hours. The deadline was set at 5pm GMT Toll: The death toll has now topped well over 900 Palestinians and 40 Israelis, including 37 soldiers and three civilians, according to official health agencies Death toll: Palestinians carry a body of a man found under the rubble of a destroyed house during a 12-hour ceasefire in Gaza City's Shijaiyah neighbourhood Hundreds of Palestinians poured into the streets in the minutes after the truce took force, some on foot to inspect damage to their homes Halt in fighting: Israeli soldiers on top of their tanks at the border between the Gaza Strip and Israel. World leaders are gathering to negotiate a long-term ceasefire Reloading: Israeli forces inspect and load tank ammunition this morning during the truce. Tensions are increasing to bring an end to the bloody conflict Israel said that two more of its soldiers were killed in Gaza, bringing the army death toll to 37, as troops battled militants in the north, east and south of Gaza Lull: An Israeli soldier reads on top of his tank near the border of Israel and Gaza today after the ceasefire was declared. World leaders called for it to be extended She added: 'We hope the calm lasts and they find a solution so fighting ends. We are afraid for our children's safety.' Siham Kafarneh, 37, sat on the steps of a small grocery, weeping. The mother-of-eight said the home she had moved into two months earlier and spent 10 years saving for had been destroyed. 'Nothing is left. Everything I have is gone,' she said. Israeli tanks stood by as people searched through the debris for their belongings, packing blankets, furniture and clothes into taxis, trucks, rickshaws, and donkey carts before fleeing the town. Fighting continued until the truce took hold. Militants fired a barrage of rockets out of Gaza, triggering sirens across much of southern and central Israel. No injuries were reported and the Iron Dome interceptor system shot down some missiles. Israel said that two more of its soldiers were killed in Gaza, bringing the army death toll to 37, as troops battled militants in the north, east and south of Gaza - a tiny Mediterranean enclave that is home to 1.8million Palestinians. Three civilians have also been killed in Israel by rockets from Gaza - the kind of attack that surged last month amid Hamas's anger at a crackdown on its activists in the West Bank, prompting the July 8 launch of the Israeli offensive. It also announced that a soldier unaccounted for after an ambush in Gaza six days ago was definitely dead, although his body had not been recovered. Hamas said on Sunday it had captured the man but did not release a photograph of him. More funerals: Palestinian mourners pray for Taib Mohammed Odeh, 22, and Khaled Odeh, 21, at a mosque in Hawara village in northern West Bank during the truce Salvage: Palestinians take usable things in belongings which they recovered from their destroyed houses during the ceasefire Smoke rises from a vehicle destroyed by an Israeli strike after Palestinian firefighters put out the blaze in Gaza City in the early hours of today (Saturday) Conflict: A member of the media walks past the vehicle which was destroyed by an Israeli strike in Gaza City as tensions continued to flare overnight in the region Chaos: Smoke rises from the vehicle in the early hours today. Elsewhere in the Gaza Strip, Israeli tank shelling reportedly killed 18 members of the same family

On Friday Israeli undercover police were involved in street conflicts with Palestinian protesters in Jerusalem as officers were put on high alert for flare-ups at the city's most important mosque during Friday prayers for the final stretch of the Ramadan Muslim holy month.