A setback in U.S.-led Gaza truce efforts

JERUSALEM - Israel-Hamas fighting looked headed for escalation after Secretary of State John Kerry failed Friday to broker a weeklong truce as a first step toward a deal and as Israel's defense minister warned Israel might soon expand its Gaza ground operation "significantly."

Hours after the U.S.-led efforts stalled, the two sides agreed to a 12-hour humanitarian cease-fire to begin Saturday. However, the temporary lull was unlikely to change the trajectory of the hostilities amid ominous signs that the Gaza war was spilling over into the West Bank.

In a "Day of Rage," Palestinians across the territory, which had been relatively calm for years, staged protests against Israel's Gaza operation and the rising casualty toll there. In the West Bank, at least six Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire, hospital officials said.

The latest diplomatic setbacks, after several days of high-level diplomacy in the region, signaled that both sides were digging in and that the fighting in Gaza was likely to drag on.

Israel wants more time to destroy Hamas military tunnels and rocket-launching sites in Gaza, while the territory's Hamas rulers want international guarantees that a Gaza border blockade will be lifted before they cease fire.

Civilians on both sides have been hardest hit over the last 18 days.

In Gaza, Israeli air strikes and tank shelling have killed more than 860 Palestinians, wounded more than 5,700, displaced tens of thousands, and destroyed hundreds of homes, Palestinian officials said. In dozens of cases, Israeli attacks killed three or more members of the same family, according to U.N. figures, and civilians make up three-quarters of the dead.

Gaza extremists have fired close to 2,500 rockets at Israel since July 8, exposing most of Israel's population to an indiscriminate threat that has killed three civilians. Thirty-six soldiers have also been killed in battle in Gaza.

Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon said Friday that Israel's military would continue to strike Hamas hard, in order to deter it from firing rockets at Israel in the future.

"At the end of the operation, Hamas will have to think very hard if it is worth it to taunt us in the future," Yaalon was quoted as telling soldiers manning an Iron Dome anti-missile battery. "You need to be ready for the possibility that very soon we will order the military to significantly broaden ground activity in Gaza."

The warning came shortly after Kerry announced in Cairo that he had been unable to broker a weeklong truce during which both sides were to talk about security arrangements and a possible easing of Gaza's border blockade.

For days, Kerry had been moving between the Egyptian capital, the West Bank, and Jerusalem, and talking to officials from Qatar, who are in contact with Hamas. More meetings with his counterparts from European Union nations, Turkey, and Qatar were scheduled for Saturday in France.

Speaking alongside U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon and the Egyptian foreign minister, Kerry insisted that there was a general agreement on the "concept" of a truce, but that both sides had concerns over details of carrying it out.

However, the Israeli Security Cabinet rejected Kerry's proposal, according to Israeli media reports. Israel wants to be able to continue destroying tunnels used by Hamas militants to try to infiltrate into Israel and to smuggle weapons. It has so far uncovered 31 tunnels and destroyed half of them.