ANKARA
Turkish Prime Minister and presidential candidate Recep Tayyip Erdogan and French President François Hollande have agreed there is an urgent need for Israel and Palestine to return to a ceasefire agreement signed in 2012.
The agreement came after Erdogan discussed the current crisis in Gaza with Hollande in a phone conversation on Saturday
The leaders said that a further escalation of violence would hurt both sides, and agreed to remain in contact for coordination efforts to reinstate the ceasefire.
At least 129 Gazans, mostly civilians, have been killed and hundreds injured since Monday in a series of Israeli airstrikes.
Israel's military offensive, dubbed "Operation Protective Edge," is ostensibly aimed at ending rocket fire from Gaza.
Gaza-based resistance factions have continued to fire rockets into Israel – without causing any fatalities to date – in response to the unrelenting Israeli attacks.
www.aa.com.tr/en
