Gaza Negotiators In Talks As Ceasefire Holds

An Israeli delegation has arrived in Cairo for negotiations over a durable truce in Gaza, after a ceasefire held overnight.

The 72-hour ceasefire began at midnight (10pm UK time).

The talks in Cairo, which include indirect negotiations with the Palestinians, are aimed at securing a lasting end to the month-long conflict.

A Palestinian woman returns to her destroyed home during a 72-hour truce

As the Israelis arrived in Cairo, a Palestinian delegation was already locked in talks with Egyptian intelligence mediators, who will relay their demands to the Israeli negotiators.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon hopes the break will provide a "chance to agree on a durable ceasefire for the benefit of all civilian populations".

Since the last truce broke on Friday, warplanes have reportedly hit more than 170 targets in Gaza, killing at least 19 Palestinians.

Those injured include seven-year-old Maha, who was paralysed from the neck down in an airstrike that killed her family and who doctors are hoping to evacuate for specialist treatment.

Meanwhile, militants fired at least 136 rockets at Israel. Some 93 hit, according to the army.

The death toll since Israel launched its military campaign on July 8 topped 2,000 on Sunday - 1,939 Palestinians and 67 on the Israeli side.

The break in fire will allow Gazans to stock up on supplies and recover the dead buried beneath rubble.

10,000 homes have been destroyed since July 8

Many Palestinians can only return to piles of rubble as more than 10,000 homes have been destroyed and the livelihoods of 300,000 people ruined.

Almost a third of the population - 500,000 people - are displaced within Gaza.

Preliminary reports say rebuilding Gaza will cost up to £4.8bn, according to the UN.

Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal said for the ceasefire to hold, Israel must end its blockade of the Gaza Strip and reopen the seaport.

Israel's campaign has been aimed at destroying Hamas' infrastructure, including its network of tunnels under the Gaza-Israel border intended for staging attacks in the Israeli territory.

Gazans inspect the damage after Israel's weekend bombardment

Away from Gaza, an 11-year-old Palestinian boy was apparently shot dead by Israeli soldiers in the West Bank.

Mohammed Khalil al Anati was killed in Al Fawwar refugee camp, southwest of the city of Hebron, a medical official said.

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Medics Desperate To Help Paralysed Gaza Girl

By Katie Stallard, Sky Correspondent, in Gaza

Maha is seven years old and paralysed from the neck down.

Her mother and sister were killed in the airstrike on their house. She remembers everything about it.

She told Sky News: "We were sitting at home when we heard the noise. So we went down under the stairs.

"This is where we were injured. Some of us stayed alive, some of us died.

"Those who stayed alive were injured, all the family was injured.

"Me and my mother were injured, and we knew if we stayed like this we would die. But my mother stayed at home and she died."

Maha watches everything around her, she understands what is being said, but she doesn't understand why she can't move her arms and legs.

She said: "I feel like I can't do anything with my body. And when I move like this I can't feel my body moving."

She has been like this for 22 days now.

Her family tells her that she will get better, but any real hope of that depends on urgent treatment abroad.

Mahasen Sheikh Khalil, her aunt, explained: "She doesn't know that she could stay paralysed like this.

"She's waiting to go for treatment abroad so she might get well.

"She says to me, 'Aunt, if I can move my hand then I can eat by myself. I just want to stand up, move and play.'"

The family has been told there are three hospitals willing to treat Maha - in Germany, Turkey, and the US - and a sponsor has agreed to cover the cost.

But they need to get her our of Gaza first, and they are still waiting for permission from Israel.

Palestinian aid workers are trying to help, but the sad truth is there are other children like Maha here, all of whom need equally immediate care.

Her doctor, neurosurgeon Basil Baker at al Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, told us that with every day that goes by, her chances of nerve recovery fade.

He explained: "Her lower limbs are lost. The recovery for the upper limbs is the aim.

"If she remains here and gets an infection, it will be difficult to treat.

"This means that she will be worse, we will not have any chance for any nerve recovery."

He hopes that she might be eligible for stem cell therapy in the future.

At the very least, he said, she deserves to be registered as a possible candidate.

Maha has already lived through three wars - she has learned how to be brave.

She has also learned how to hate.

"I would love the Israelis to die so I can stay alive," she said.

"So nobody else from our side would be killed. Because they killed and injured a lot of us."

Maha used to want to be a doctor when she grew up, now she wants to be in the resistance.

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Oz Jihadist's Son, 9, Poses With Severed Head

Australia's prime minister has slammed a "barbaric" photo which apparently shows the nine-year-old son of a terrorist holding the severed head of a Syrian soldier.

Khaled Sharrouf - who travelled from Sydney to the Middle East to join Islamist extremists fighting jihad in the region - posted the picture on Twitter last week with the caption "That's My Boy!", The Australian newspaper reported.

The graphic image shows the youngster - wearing blue checked shorts and a blue "Polo For Kids" T-shirt - struggling to hold the victim's head by the hair.

A Twitter account linked to Khaled Sharrouf has been suspended after it was used to post a series of messages and photos promoting the campaign being waged by Islamic State, formerly known as ISIS.

Sharrouf posted a photo apparently showing his son with a severed head

Another of the images shows Sharouf posing in front of a black Islamic State flag with his three sons, all of them dressed in military fatigues and brandishing guns.  

Tony Abbott said the "hideous" images demonstrated the brutality of Islamic State fighters, who have gained control of a large swathe of Syria and Iraq.

He told ABC radio: "There are more photographs in newspapers in Australia today of the kind of hideous atrocities that this group is capable of.

"Islamic State - as they're now calling themselves - it's not just a terrorist group, it's a terrorist army and they're seeking not just a terrorist enclave but effectively a terrorist state, a terrorist nation.

Tony Abbott said ISIS is seeking a 'terrorist state'

"This does pose extraordinary problems — extraordinary problems, not just for the people of the Middle East, but for the wider world and we see more and more evidence of just how barbaric this particular entity is."

US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel - currently visiting Australia - said the photograph showed the threat Islamic State (known as ISIL in the US) poses to the Western societies.

He said: "ISIL is a threat to the civilised world, certainly to the United States, to our interests, as it is to Europe, it is to Australia."

Sharrouf was among nine men accused of stockpiling bomb-making materials and plotting terrorist attacks in Sydney and Melbourne in 2007.

He pleaded guilty to terrorism offences and was jailed for four years in 2009.

He was banned from leaving Australia due to the terrorist threat he posed, but managed to escape with his wife and three sons last year by using his brother's passport.

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Iraq Power Struggle As Thousands Flee ISIS

A power struggle for control of Iraq's government is raging in Baghdad, as Kurdish forces aided by US airstrikes battle Islamist extremists in the north of the country.

Iraq's main Shia coalition has nominated a candidate to replace Nouri al Maliki as prime minister, but the move could stoke political tensions amid efforts to build a united front against the militants.

The National Alliance chose deputy parliament speaker Haider al Abadi as the man to unite the country after Mr al Maliki was criticised for deepening sectarian divisions and steering the country towards all-out civil war.

US soldiers watch as halal meals are parachuted to the ground in Iraq

But Mr al Maliki has indicated he will not cave in to pressure to stand down, appearing on TV overnight to accuse the new president of violating the constitution.

In a surprisingly strident speech, the prime minister threatened legal action against newly elected President Fuad Musam for failing to back him for a third term.

As he spoke, Shia militias and security forces loyal to Mr al Maliki were deployed across Baghdad in an apparent show of strength.

Speaking in Australia, US Secretary of State John Kerry backed President Masum and warned Mr al Maliki not to obstruct efforts to form a new government.

He said: "We believe that the government formation process is critical in terms of sustaining the stability and calm in Iraq - our hope is that Mr Maliki will not stir those waters."

In northern Iraq, Islamist extremists have been forced out of two towns by Kurdish troops, while thousands of Yazidis stranded on a mountain after fleeing the militants have been streaming into Iraq's northern Kurdistan region.

Yazidi refugees approach the food bundles on the ground

The militants were driven out of Makhmour and al Gweir, near Irbil, after fighters were aided by a series of US airstrikes targeting armed vehicles.

Kurdish forces have been bolstered further after senior US officials said the Obama administration has begun directly providing them with weapons to defend themselves against attacks by Islamic State, previously known as ISIS.

But closer to Baghdad, the Sunni militants captured Jalawla, a town 70 miles (115km) northeast of the Iraqi capital, after weeks of clashes with Kurdish fighters. 

Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond has chaired a meeting of the Government's Cobra emergency committee, after a No 10 source told Sky News there were no plans to recall Parliament to discuss the crisis despite mounting pressure.

The political turmoil comes amid mounting evidence of the slaughter of minority Christians and Yazidis by Islamist extremists.

Photographs taken in the north of the country appear to show crucifixions and beheadings, as well as a series of executions by gunfire.

Refugees flee the extremists carving a bloody path through northern Iraq

Iraq's human rights minister Mohammed Shia al Sudani said accounts from Yazidis fleeing Sinjar suggested hundreds had been slaughtered.

"Some of the victims, including women and children, were buried alive in scattered mass graves in and around Sinjar," he said.

Yesterday, Downing Street announced that more UK advisers were being sent to the under-threat city of Irbil to help deal with the developing crisis.

The US has been carrying out airstrikes to protect the area, which is a Kurdish stronghold and major centre for the country's oil trade.

David Cameron has been urged to recall Parliament

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US Racing Driver Killed In Track Rage Row Video

A driver has died after being struck by a Nascar star's car during a row on a race track in New York.

Video shows Kevin Ward Jr's car hitting a wall after colliding with three-time Nascar champion Tony Stewart's vehicle at Canandaigua Motorsports Park on Saturday night.

The 20-year-old, wearing a black firesuit on the dimly lit track, got out to confront rival Stewart during the sprint-car race. Ward Jr was hit by Stewart's car, catapulting him 50ft through the air.

Emergency services were quickly on the scene

Paramedics tried to revive him, but he was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital later that night.

Police said they are not investigating the incident as a criminal matter.

Stewart, 42, was "'fully cooperative" while being questioned and later released, they said.

Tony Stewart was questioned by police and released

Officials immediately stopped the race and posted a message on social media encouraging fans to "pray for the entire racing community of fans, drivers, and families."

"People that witnessed it were horrified," said Ontario County Sheriff Philip Povero Povero.

"They were extremely shocked."

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Iraqi Militants Execute 500: Some Buried Alive

Iraq militants have executed at least 500 ethnic minority Kurds dumping their victims in mass graves across the north of the country, the human rights minister has said.

There is "striking evidence" that Islamic State fighters, formerly known as ISIS, have buried some of their victims, including women and children, alive as they continue their bloody advance across Iraq.

The militants have driven as many as 150,000 Yazidis from their homes into the Sinjar mountains, where they are cut off from food and water and struggling to survive. Hundreds are already reported to have died.

Yazidis flee as the jihadists carve a bloody trail through northern Iraq

The jihadists have also kidnapped 300 women as slaves.

Human rights minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani said: "We have striking evidence obtained from Yazidis fleeing Sinjar and some who escaped death, and also crime scene images that show indisputably that the gangs of the Islamic States have executed at least 500 Yazidis after seizing Sinjar.

"Some of the victims, including women and children were buried alive in scattered mass graves in and around Sinjar."

Thousands are hiding in the Sinjar mountains but face starvation

Officials earlier said at least 20,000 of those trapped in the mountains had managed to escaped into Syria and been escorted by Kurdish fighters back into Iraqi Kurdistan.

Iraqi Kurdish President Massoud Barzani has appealed to the international community for weapons to help them  fight the extremists.

Humanitarian aid drops from the back of an RAF plane

An RAF plane made the first British aid drop across northern Iraq on Sunday morning, delivering reusable filtration containers, tents and solar lights which can also recharge mobile phones.

It comes after the US launched a fresh round of strikes in an attempt to stop the jihadists' advance across the country, following a warning from Barack Obama that he was ready for a protracted campaign.

The militants have been sweeping through northern Iraq, beheading and crucifying captives who refuse to be converted to Islam.

Aid parcels are loaded on to the plane

During a press conference on Saturday, Mr Obama accepted there would be no quick fix for the rapidly deteriorating situation in the country and vowed to continue strikes for weeks or months if necessary.

The President, who has ruled out sending in ground troops, and David Cameron discussed the commitment to providing humanitarian relief during a telephone conversation on Saturday.

Kurdish fighters try to protect the Yazidis

The Prime Minister's spokesman said: "Both leaders also agreed that aid drops are not a long-term solution, and that a way must be found to get these people to safety and to avert a genocide."

Defence Secretary Philip Hammond also announced on Saturday that there would be "a continuing drumbeat of airdrop operations" around the Sinjar mountains. The Government has pledged an emergency £8m aid package to help refugees in Iraq.

The strikes mark the first American offensive in Iraq since Washington pulled out its forces in 2011 after nearly a decade of brutal war.

Mr Obama also said US action aimed to prevent Islamic State fighters from attacking Irbil, the capital of the Iraqi Kurdish region, where the US has a diplomatic mission.

He said: "I'm not going to give a particular timetable, because as I've said from the start, wherever and whenever US personnel and facilities are threatened, it's my obligation, my responsibility as commander in chief, to make sure they are protected."

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Anger On Streets After Black Teen Killed By Cop

The fatal shooting of a black teenager by a US police officer has sparked angry protests in his Missouri neighbourhood.

Hundreds of residents gathered at the scene of the killing outside an apartment building in Ferguson, a suburb of St Louis.

It is not known why the officer opened fire on the victim, 18-year-old Michael Brown, last Tuesday.

Following the shooting, a temporary memorial was set up and the crowd confronted officers, with some shouting obscenities and threats including "kill the police".

But there were no reports of injuries.

Brown's mother Leslie McSpadden said: "He don't bother nobody. My son just turned 18 and graduated from high school and he don't bother nobody."

The victim's mother Desiree Harris

The teenager's grandmother Desiree Harris, who had been expecting him to visit her later that day, saw him running near her home when she passed him in her car.

Minutes later, she found his body on the street after hearing a commotion outside the apartment complex.

She said: "He was running this way. When I got up there, my grandson was lying on the pavement. I asked the police what happened. They didn't tell me nothing."

Mourners gather in the suburb of Ferguson

Esther Haywood, president of the St Louis NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People), appealed for calm.

"Violence only creates more problems and I hope that the community will settle down tonight and tomorrow," she said.

Ferguson Police Chief Thomas Jackson told the St Louis Post-Dispatch newspaper that the officer involved has been placed on paid administrative leave.

"We are hoping for calm and for people to give us a chance to conduct a thorough investigation," Mr Jackson said.

St Louis County Police Department is investigating the shooting at the request of the local department.

John Gaskin, a member of the St Louis County NAACP civil rights group, said the FBI should become involved "to protect the integrity of the investigation".

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Palestinians Agree Three-Day Ceasefire Plan

Palestinian negotiators have accepted an Egyptian proposal for a new three-day ceasefire with Israel, say reports.

There is no word yet on Israel's response to the news, said Sky's Tom Rayner in Jerusalem.

It comes as an 11-year-old Palestinian boy was reportedly shot dead by Israeli soldiers in the West Bank.

Mohammed Khalil al Anati was killed in Al Fawwar refugee camp, southwest of the city of Hebron, a medical official told AFP news service.

The Israeli military said it was investigating reports the youngster was shot by one of its soldiers.

Smoke rises from the coastal side of the Gaza Strip after an Israeli strike

Earlier, it looked like peace talks in Cairo would collapse after a Palestinian delegation threatened to walk out of discussions unless the Israelis returned to the table without conditions.

However, Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri later told AFP: "There is a proposal for another 72-hour truce (to allow) for the continuation of negotiations ... this proposal is being studied."

He said the Palestinian response would depend on "the seriousness of the Israeli position".

A man sits amid the ruins of his home in Gaza

Israel - whose delegation left Cairo after a 72-hour truce ended in violence on Friday - has said it will not take part in talks while Hamas rocket attacks continue.

"Israel will not negotiate under fire," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said after his weekly cabinet meeting.

"At no stage did we declare (Israel's military offensive) was over. The operation will continue until its objective - the restoration of quiet over a protracted period - is achieved."

The Palestinians blamed their decision to resume fire on Israel's refusal to end the blockade of Gaza and open a seaport.

A boy surrounded by rumble in a bombed out Gaza street

British Prime Minister David Cameron and US President Barack Obama expressed "serious concern" about renewed hostilities in Gaza during a phone call on Saturday.

The leaders called on Israel to exercise "restraint".

The Israelis launched more than 30 air attacks in Gaza on Saturday, killing nine Palestinians, while militants continued to fire rockets into Israel.

A month after Israel launched its military campaign, nearly 1,900 Palestinians have been killed - mostly civilians.

Israel has lost 64 soldiers in combat, while three civilians have died from rocket fire into the country.

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Israeli Shells Pound Gaza As Fighting Resumes

Hamas has vowed it will not back down as Israel pounded Gaza with a fresh wave of strikes, killing five Palestinians.

The Israeli military has launched 21 airstrikes on Gaza since midnight on Saturday as talks to extend the temporary ceasefire stalled.

Palestinian health officials claim senior Hamas official Moaaz Zaid was among three Palestinians killed in an attack on a mosque. Two people travelling on a motorcycle died when they were struck by a bomb.

Another two Palestinians were shot dead by soldiers and dozens wounded in clashes with Israeli forces amid violent protests in occupied West Bank.

Palestinians pray over the bodies of three members of the same family

The deaths bring the number of dead in the month-long conflict to nearly 1,900. The United Nations, which has condemned Israel's actions, say 1,354 of those killed have been civilians.

Israel has lost 64 soldiers during the conflict, while three civilians have died from rocket fire into the country.

Israel says Hamas has fired six rockets across the border since the 72-hour ceasefire ended on Friday morning, while Israel has carried out strikes on a total of 30 sites.

Smoke rises from what witnesses said was an Israeli strike on Gaza City

Hamas spokesman Fawzy Barhum said: "There will be no going back, the resistance will continue. The occupier's intransigence will get it nowhere and we will make no concessions on the demands of our people."

The resumption of violence came as Britain announced it would send a team of NHS experts to help victims wounded in Gaza.

Prime Minister David Cameron said: "The conflict in Gaza has taken a terrible toll.

"The NHS has always stepped up to the plate to help those in need and this expert team will play a crucial role in helping hundreds caught up in this conflict."

Palestinian protesters clash with Israeli border guards in West Bank

The UK team consists of doctors, nurses, surgeons, anaesthetists and paramedics - and their specialities include trauma and plastic surgery.

Mr Cameron is under increasing pressure to suspend arms exports from British manufacturers to Israeli forces following the resignation of foreign minister Baroness Warsi over the Government's line on Gaza this week.

Lady Warsi said the Government's approach had been "morally indefensible" and has stepped up her call for action to be taken.

A Palestinian boy sleeps in a UN-organised shelter

"For me at that moment the concern that I had was that even if the ceasefire had held, and I sincerely hoped it had, there was still no clear language from the Government in relation to the condemnation of what had happened," she said.

"There was no clear commitment that we would lead the international effort on accountability on both sides for what had happened.

"Our language was not there. It was lagging behind. I don't think it was just words that would have stopped me from doing what I did.

Baroness Warsi's resiganation has placed pressure on David Cameron

"I think it was a combination of issues. It was the language that we were using, I think it was our lack of support for international justice and accountability for the crimes that had been committed."

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has urged the coalition to halt arms export licences for ammunition, drone parts and armoured vehicles, which are being used in Operation Protective Edge. He had indicated on Thursday an announcement would be imminent.

The United States said it still hoped the three-day ceasefire could be revived and Egypt, which attempting to broker peace between Israelis and Palestinians with US and European mediators, insisted negotiations were making progress.

However, little movement seems to have been achieved and the two sides are still far apart on meeting terms of agreement.

In an interview with the New York Times on Friday, Barack Obama urged Israel to recognise Palestinians had a right to land and space to live.

He said: "It has consistently been my belief that you have to find a way to live side by side in peace with Palestinians ... You have to recognise that they have legitimate claims, and this is their land and neighbourhood as well."

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Gaza 'Is Living In A Disaster Situation'

By Katie Stallard, Sky News Correspondent, in Gaza

The first ambulance came in at speed, tyres squealing.

Inside, was a 10-year-old boy.

They rushed him to the emergency ward, but there was nothing they could do to save his life.

We saw other children being brought in - a little girl, maybe five years old, carried in a paramedic's arms.

An ambulance brings a child to Gaza's Shifa Hospital

She looked absolutely terrified.

The doctors told us they treated a six-month-old baby for shrapnel wounds to the head.

We saw an 80-year-old woman, clearly very frail and confused and clearly seriously injured.

"Gaza is living in a disaster situation," said Dr Sobhi Skaik at Shifa Hospital.

"Again the war is coming to kill and kill and kill.

"Today is the 33rd day of this massacre in Gaza. This is inhuman and it has to be stopped."

Dr Sobhu Skaik tends to an injured 80-year-old woman

He said they need basic supplies now - surgical instruments, drugs, medication, and expertise - specifically vascular, orthopaedic and neurosurgeons.

One of the ambulances pulling up outside had blast damage to the windscreen and a bullet hole in the side.

Six medics have been killed in Gaza so far.

Paramedic Ahmed Abu-Ali said: "We feel we are targeted in any minute.

"All medical teams are now afraid they are targeted, it's very hard now.

"We wake up every day and we don't know if we are coming back to our homes or not."

We saw outgoing rockets too.

Although Hamas has not admitted firing any rockets since the ceasefire ended, Islamic Jihad and other smaller militant groups have said they fired on Israel.

But Israel says Hamas violated the ceasefire, and therefore Hamas is responsible for any resulting harm to the residents Gaza, who, it says, are being used as human shields.

But it's difficult to explain that argument to a parent carrying their child into the emergency ward.

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