Gaza ceasefire talks to resume on Sunday

Gaza ceasefire negotiations are due to resume in Cairo on Sunday, two Egyptian security sources said on Saturday.

The parties have agreed on the duration of a Gaza truce, as well as hostage and prisoner releases, they said, adding that the completion of the deal still requires an agreement on the withdrawal of Israeli forces from northern Gaza and a return of its residents.

The sources said that the incident on Thursday in which more than 100 Palestinians seeking aid were killed by Israeli fire according to Gazan authorities, had not slowed down the talks, but instead pushed negotiators to hasten in order to preserve progress.

The Palestinian Authority (PA) said on Saturday it hopes a ceasefire can be agreed in time for Ramadan.

Foreign minister, Riyad al-Maliki, said "We hope that we will be able to achieve a ceasefire before Ramadan, we hope to be able to achieve one today, yesterday, but we have failed," he said at a news conference at a diplomatic forum in Antalya, Turkey.

Maliki called on the international community to make more efforts for a ceasefire.

When asked about the PA's role for the governance of Gaza after the war, Maliki said: "The only legitimate authority that will operate and continue to operate Gaza is the Palestinian Administration. This is how we see the situation in post-war Gaza."

The PA, which exercises limited self rule in parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, lost control of Gaza to Hamas in 2007.

Maliki also said the PA President Mahmoud Abbas will pay a visit to Ankara on Tuesday and meet Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan.