United Nations, July 28 (IANS): UN Secretary-General Ban Ki- moon Sunday urged "in the strongest terms" both the Israelis and Palestinians to extend, for an additional 24 hours, the humanitarian ceasefire that was in effect and mostly observed until early in the day.
The secretary-general "notes the importance for both Israelis and Palestinians to be able to have a break in the violence that has killed too many, marred so many lives, and caused such destruction", Xinhua quoted a statement issued here by Ban's spokesman as saying.
"Working closely with regional and international leaders, the secretary-general urges all those with influence on the parties to help encourage an extension of the humanitarian ceasefire and compliance with observing it, once declared," the statement said.
A Palestinian was killed and 10 injured Sunday after Israeli war jets resumed airstrikes on Gaza, where a UN-proposed humanitarian ceasefire for 42 hours between Israel and Hamas collapsed.
On Sunday afternoon, Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said in an emailed press statement that Hamas and the Palestinian factions agreed to accept the UN-proposed ceasefire for 24 hours, but Israel rejected it.
On July 8, Israel launched a large-scale operation on the Gaza Strip, where 1,031 Palestinians and 43 Israelis have been killed and more than 6,000 Palestinians injured.