Palestinians to proceed with Gaza ceasefire talks

Gaza - The Palestinian delegation to Gaza ceasefire talks in Cairo decided to proceed with the negotiations on Tuesday, a senior Hamas leader said, despite Israel's killing of two Hamas militants in the occupied West Bank.

"After consultations within the Palestinian delegation and brothers in Gaza and abroad it was decided to continue the Cairo meetings," Mohammed al-Zahar told Reuters by phone from the Egyptian capital after a member of the team said it was considering withdrawing from the talks.

Zahar condemned the killing earlier on Tuesday of two Palestinians whom Israel said had shot dead three Israeli youths in June, an attack that led to the July-August Gaza war.

But he said Israel must not be given any pretext "to escape from commitments" of an 26 August truce that called for talks within a month on long-term border arrangements for the blockaded Gaza Strip.