Dharampal Gulati

The ceasefire came into force at 2 a.m., reports Xinhua news agency. According to Egypt's official MENA news agency, Cairo will send two security delegations to Israel and Palestine to ensure the implementation of the truce. The heaviest fighting between Israel and the Gaza militants since 2014 has so far killed 232 Palestinians, including 65 children, and 12 Israelis.

"I welcome the ceasefire between Gaza and Israel, after 11 days of deadly hostilities," Guterres told reporters a few minutes before the ceasefire took effect at 2 a.m. on Friday. According to the latest media reports, a total of 232 Palestinians, including more than 60 children, and at least 12 Israelis, have been killed since violence erupted near the Gaza border on May 10.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office announced that the Israeli security cabinet approved on Thursday night the Egyptian-brokered ceasefire with Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Xinhua reported. The decision came after a 2.5-hour discussion and was "unanimously" approved by the ministers, according to the office's statement.

The Israeli Defence Forces said that its aerial assault and artillery bombardment continued overnight, hitting targets including the house of a Hamas commander in Khan Younis, an arms factory and rocket launchers. The IDF said that the tunnels were built over five years and allowed Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, to move ammunition, fighters and food within the coastal strip.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said 219 Palestinians, including 63 children, were killed in Gaza. In the West Bank, 25 Palestinian deaths were tallied, including four children. Israeli sources reported 12 people killed, including two children and a soldier. Thousands of people are injured, mainly in the West Bank and in Gaza, Xinhua reported.

"The president's convening of this meeting follows a written request received from the permanent representatives of Niger and Algeria, in their respective capacities as chairs of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and Arab Group." Talking about the speakers, Varma said there will be statements from the UNGA president and Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

At a press briefing after the EU foreign ministers' video conference on the Middle East situation on Tuesday afternoon, Borrell cited a statement backed by 26 member states but blocked by Hungary's veto as Budapest supports Israel, Xinhua reported. The EU has thus been prevented from taking a common position on the escalating Middle East conflict.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in a press statement that Israeli fighter jets destroyed, either totally or partially, 448 constructions in the Palestinian coastal enclave since May 10, Xinhua reported. Jens Laerke, a spokesman for OCHA, said in the statement that 132 buildings were completely destroyed and 316 partially destroyed

About 460 of the rockets never made it across the border and went down in Gaza territory, dpa news agency quoted the military as saying. The Iron Dome missile defence system had an interception rate of about 90 per cent, it said. There were initially no current figures on the number of attacks by Israel in the Gaza Strip this morning.

In the capital Washington, D.C., hundreds took part in pro-Palestinian protests on Saturday, marching from the Washington Monument to the US Capitol, reports Xinhua news agency. Also on Saturday, thousands of people rallied in Los Angeles in support of Palestinians.