DIPLOMATIC EFFORT

On the diplomatic front, international efforts to bring an end to hostilities and secure a longer-lasting truce were being led by US Secretary of State John Kerry in Paris.

Kerry, who has been spearheading international efforts to end the fighting, arrived in Paris on Saturday where he met the foreign ministers of France, Italy, Britain, Germany, Turkey and Qatar.

"All of us call on the parties to extend the humanitarian ceasefire that is currently under way," French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said after the meeting.

But an Israeli security cabinet minister, Gilad Erdan, said on Saturday that a definitive deal looked remote, with no representatives from Israel, Egypt or the Palestinian Authority attending the Paris talks.

The deputy leader of Islamic Jihad, a militant group allied to Hamas, said Egypt's mediation efforts were still being considered but improvements were being sought and, in the meantime, the fight would go on.

"We are still open to the Egyptian initiative and there are hot contacts to improve it ... We are going to pursue the battle until the blockade is ended. The resistance carries our demands," he said in a text message to reporters.