US Secretary of State John Kerry spoke Thursday with his counterparts in Qatar and Turkey as he stressed the need for a Gaza ceasefire

US Secretary of State John Kerry spoke Thursday with his counterparts in Qatar and Turkey as he stressed the need for a Gaza ceasefire.

Kerry, who has been holding several talks while in Egypt in efforts to reach a truce, spoke by phone with the foreign ministers, a US official said.

Washington's top diplomat spoke specifically to Qatar and Turkey in hopes that their influence would encourage Hamas resistance to accept a Gaza ceasefire.

Kerry also held talks in Al-Quds (Jerusalem) Wednesday with UN Chief Ban Ki-moon, where they said they made some progress in reaching a truce. "We have certainly made some steps forward, but there is still work to be done," Kerry said as he met the UN chief for the second time this week.

Meanwhile, Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal stressed in a press conference Wednesday that Palestine would only agree to a truce in exchange for an end to the blockade on Gaza.
"Everyone wanted us to accept a ceasefire and then negotiate for our rights; we rejected this and we reject it again today," Meshaal stressed. He added that Hamas would certainly accept a temporary truce to allow humanitarian relief but that the resistance would keep fighting against the Zionist offensive, which has claimed the lives of more than 700 Palestinians.