Israel and Hamas in 'Gaza truce'

22 August 2011 Last updated at 12:28 GMT A PRC spokesman said the truce was "temporary" Israel and Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist group which governs the Gaza Strip, say they have agreed to a ceasefire after five days of violence.

The latest clashes began when militants crossed into southern Israel and killed eight Israelis on Thursday.

Subsequent Israeli air strikes on Gaza killed 15 Palestinians. One Israeli was killed in rocket fire from Gaza.

The Quartet of Middle East peace mediators - the UN, US, EU and Russia - has called for restraint.

Informal truce

A Palestinian official said that Hamas had agreed to ensure that the ceasefire was recognised by smaller militant groups in Gaza - which were responsible for most of the rockets fired at southern Israel in the past few days.

Prior to the announcement, Israeli media reported that 12 rockets launched from the Gaza Strip landed in southern Israel overnight. No injuries resulted.

But on Monday, Gaza's Popular Resistance Committees (PRC) - last to agree to the truce - agreed to halt rocket fire against Israel as a "temporary" measure "for the sake of the Palestinian people".

Earlier, Israel's army radio reported that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's security cabinet had decided the military would stop its air strikes on Gaza if militants there halted their attacks.

Like similar arrangements in the past this is not a formal agreement, says the BBC's Yolande Knell in Jerusalem.

Tensions in and around Gaza have risen rapidly since Thursday's deadly shooting attacks in the Negev desert, when Palestinian gunmen shot dead eight Israelis near the Red Sea resort town of Eilat.

Seven of the attackers and five Egyptian security personnel were killed as Israeli troops pursued the gunmen.

Israel also launched a wave of retaliatory air strikes against the PRC, killing 15 people in the Gaza Strip - including the leader of the PRC and several other militants. Civilians were also among the dead.

Meanwhile, Palestinian militants fired more than 100 rockets and mortars into Israel, killing one man in Beersheba and injuring dozens.

Thursday's incident has also led to a diplomatic dispute between Israel and Egypt. Cairo has called the killing of its five soldiers "unacceptable" and warned that it could recall its ambassador from Israel.

Israel said it "regretted" the deaths of the five Egyptians.

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UN calls for Thai-Cambodia truce

24 April 2011 Last updated at 03:48 GMT Both sides blame each other for starting the latest military exchanges UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has called on Cambodia and Thailand to declare a ceasefire, as border clashes continue for a third day.

Mr Ban said the countries' border dispute could not be resolved by military means and both sides needed to engage in "serious dialogue".

The fighting took place west of the disputed Preah Vihear temple, where deadly clashes erupted in February.

Ten soldiers have so far been killed in the clashes, which began on Friday.

The two sides exchanged heavy weapons fire on Sunday, military commanders on both sides confirmed.

"The secretary-general calls on both sides to exercise maximum restraint and to take immediate measures to put in place for an effective and verifiable ceasefire," said UN spokesman Martin Nesirky.

Thousands of villagers evacuated from their homes because of the fighting were sheltering in camps on either side of the porous border.

Following February's fighting near the 900-year-old Preah Vihear temple, an informal truce had appeared to be holding.

Both sides blame each other for Friday's exchange of fire near two other disputed temples that left at least six soldiers - three from each side - dead.

Shelling and gunfire broke out again in the same area on Saturday and claimed the life of one Thai soldier and three Cambodians, according to officials.

Indonesia, which has been trying to broker a lasting peace deal between the two neighbours, has also called for an immediate ceasefire.

Parts of the Thai-Cambodian border have never been formally demarcated, causing continuing tensions between the two countries.

An international court awarded the Preah Vihear temple to Cambodia in 1962 but both sides claim ownership of the surrounding area.

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