Israel, Palestinians agree 72-hour truce

Israel and the Palestinians have agreed a new 72-hour Gaza ceasefire that would start at 0500 GMT Tuesday, said a senior official in Egypt, which is hosting truce talks.

"Egypt's contacts with relevant parties have achieved a commitment for a 72-hour truce in Gaza starting from 0500 GMT tomorrow morning, and an agreement for the rest of the relevant delegations to come to Cairo to conduct further negotiations," the official told AFP.

A Palestinian delegation, including Hamas representatives, has been holding talks in Cairo with Egyptian mediators for a durable truce in Gaza, but Israel has not yet sent any negotiators to the Egyptian capital.

"The Palestinians have agreed to a ceasefire proposed by Egypt," Azzam al-Ahmed, leader of the Palestinian delegation, told reporters in Cairo.

There was no immediate comment from Israel.

The Israeli army said on Monday that it still has many missions to carry out in Gaza despite destroying all of the known tunnels Palestinian fighters use.

"We will not leave; we will stay in the Gaza Strip; there are many more missions to complete," army spokesman Moti Almoz said on Channel 2 television, adding Israeli forces had destroyed all of the tunnels they had identified so far in the enclave.

HRW: Israel killed fleeing Gazans in likely war crime

Meanwhile, Human Rights Watch on Monday accused Israel of killing civilians as they attempted to flee a stricken neighbourhood of Gaza, in what it said would amount to a war crime.

In a report that cited Palestinians who managed to get out of Khuza'a, HRW said the attacks on the town near the southern city of Khan Yunis occurred at the end of July.

"Israeli forces in the southern Gaza town of Khuza'a fired on and killed civilians in apparent violation of the laws of war in several incidents between July 23 and 25," said the New York-based watchdog.

"Deliberate attacks on civilians who are not participating in the fighting are war crimes."

Civilians faced "grave dangers" in Khuza'a, including repeated shelling, lack of access to medical care, and coming under attack from the Israelis as they attempt to flee to Khan Yunis.

The report pointed out that while Israeli forces had warned people to leave Khuza'a prior to July 21, "the failure of civilians to abide by warnings does not make them lawful targets of attack."

"Warning families to flee fighting doesn't make them fair targets just because they're unable to do so, and deliberately attacking them is a war crime," said HRW's Sarah Leah Whitson.

Britain reviewing Israel arms export licences

Meanwhile, Britain is reviewing licences to sell arms and military goods to Israel in the light of ongoing operations in Gaza, Prime Minister David Cameron's office said Monday.

Britain's government has approved licences for the sale of military goods to Israel worth at least £42 million ($71 million, 53 million euros) since 2010, according to government figures obtained by the Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT).

These are mostly to supply weapons control and targeting systems and components for ammunition, drones and armoured vehicles.

"We are currently reviewing all export licences to Israel to confirm that we think they are appropriate," said a Downing Street spokeswoman.

"Clearly the current situation has changed compared to when some licences will have been granted, and we're reviewing those existing licences against the current situation, but no decisions have been taken beyond going back again and reviewing," the spokeswoman said.

The decision to review the contracts was taken last week, she added.

CAAT spokesman Andrew Smith welcomed the review but called for an immediate embargo on the selling of military equipment to Israel, insisting the government "should never have agreed the licences in the first place".

"It not only facilitates, but signals approval to the actions of the Israeli government," he added.

Cameron said earlier Monday that the United Nations was "right" to condemn the shelling of a UN school in Gaza which killed 10 people but declined to say whether he thought it breached international law.

The opposition Labour Party in recent days has criticised Cameron for not taking a tougher line against Israel.

Gaza crisis moves to UN Assembly

With criticism mounting of UN inaction in the Gaza conflict, envoys from all 193 countries of the United Nations will meet Wednesday to hear top officials report on the crisis.

The meeting of the UN General Assembly was requested by Arab countries who are pushing for a toughly-worded resolution to be adopted by the Security Council.

Top UN officials will brief ambassadors including Human Rights Commissioner Navi Pillay, who has said Israel's offensive in Gaza could amount to war crimes.

The head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, Pierre Krahenbuhl, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's Middle East envoy Robert Serry and the head of humanitarian relief in Gaza, Kyung-wha Kang, are also to speak to the assembly, the Ugandan presidency of the General Assembly said.

Jordan has circulated a draft resolution to the UN Security Council calling for an immediate ceasefire and an Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, but the document has yet to come up for formal discussion.

The 15-member Council adopted a statement on July 27 calling for a ceasefire and expressing support for Egypt's mediation efforts after the United States dropped its reservations that such a text would single out Israel.

South Africa's Zuma 'appalled' by Israel campaign

South African President Jacob Zuma voiced outrage Monday over civilian deaths in Israel's campaign in the Gaza Strip.

"We are outraged by the killing of civilians by Israel, some in United Nations shelters," Zuma told a news conference in Washington where he was attending a US-Africa summit.

"We call upon all sides to lay down arms and work towards a negotiated solution that will lead to an internationally recognized and supported two-state solution," he said.

Zuma also condemned the killings of Israeli civilians.

South Africa has frequently been critical of the treatment of Palestinians by Israel, which had cooperative relations with the former apartheid regime.

Former archbishop Desmond Tutu, who won the Nobel Peace Prize for his struggle against the former white-dominated regime, recently likened Israeli policies to apartheid.

Israel voices outrage over such comparisons.

The Israeli operation began on July 8 with an air campaign and expanded into a ground operation on July 17.

More than 1,800 Palestinians and 64 Israeli soldiers have died in Gaza, and three civilians in Israel, raising tensions across the region and drawing condemnation from around the world.