Ceasefire talks in disarray as Palestine threatens to pull out

Palestinian negotiators have warned they will abandon Egyptian-mediated talks in Cairo on Sunday unless Israel agreed to return to the negotiations to end the fighting in Gaza without pre-conditions.

"We told the Egyptians that if the Israelis are not coming and if there is no significant development, we are leaving today," Palestinian negotiator Bassam Salhi said.

However, Egypt’s state news agency said that Palestinian negotiators will remain in Cairo for an urgent meeting with the Arab League on Monday to discuss the Gaza crisis – but notwithstanding this, Israel’s pre-conditions may prove a stumbling block during talks.

Speaking at the weekly cabinet of his cabinet in Tel Aviv, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that Israel will not take part in truce talks while violence is ongoing.

"The operation will continue until its objective - the restoration of quiet over a protraced period - is achieved. I said at the beginning and throughout the operation - it will take time, and stamina is required," Netanyahu said.

On Friday, Palestinian factions refused to extend a 72-hour ceasefire, saying Israel refused to accept demands including an end to the blockade of Gaza and the opening of a seaport. The Palestinian side is also demanding the release of around 125 key prisoners held in Israeli jails.

However, with mediation talks ongoing in Cairo, Israel resumed its attacks on Saturday as its army fired more than 30 air attacks on the Gaza Strip, killing nine palestinians in the process. On their part, Palestinian fighters launched a barrage of rockets at Israel, defying international efforts to revive a ceasefire.

Medical officials in Gaza said two Palestinians were killed when their motorcycle was bombed and the bodies of three others were found beneath the rubble of one of three bombed mosques.

Two Palestinians were killed in an air strike on a car in the southern town of Rafah, Gaza medics said. A 13-year-old girl and a man were killed in other air assaults, hospital officials said.

An Israeli military statement said four of the Palestinians targeted on Saturday were Hamas fighters.

Following the attacks, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said the parties should work towards a "sustainable ceasefire" while the UN said more suffering for civilians was "intolerable".

Gaza officials say the war has killed 1,915 Palestinians, most of them civilians. UN figures indicate that 73 percent of the Palestinian victims were civilians. Of that number, at least 429 were children.

Israel says 64 of its soldiers and three civilians have died in the fighting that started on July 8.