Kerry calls for immediate ceasefire

US Secretary of State John Kerry calls for an immediate ceasefire after meeting with Egypt’s president and other high-level officials in Cairo.

Kerry stopped short of advocating a new round of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. Still, he said his discussions in Cairo were designed to “hopefully find not only a way to a ceasefire, but a way to deal with the underlying issues, which are very complicated.”

The US and Israel back Egypt’s proposed ceasefire plan but Hamas rejects it. Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shukri says Tuesday’s talks are focused “to not only resolve this issue, but also to set in motion once again the peace process that Secretary Kerry has been so actively involved in so as to end this ongoing conflict between the Palestinians and the Israelis.”

US Secretary of State John Kerry meets with Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shukri in Cairo, Egypt, Tuesday, July 22, 2014. (photo credit: AP Photo/Pool)
US Secretary of State John Kerry meets with Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shukri in Cairo, Egypt, Tuesday, July 22, 2014. (photo credit: AP Photo/Pool)

In a separate meeting with Kerry, Arab league President Nabil Elaraby calls the Gaza bloodshed a “massacre.” More than 600 Palestinians and 29 Israelis have been killed since the new war began July 8.

“People are dying in the streets in large numbers,” Elaraby tells Kerry. “And what is needed is for all hostile acts should end as soon as possible. Just like someone is bleeding, and you need a Band-Aid, but that is not enough. You need more to be able to survive.”

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