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Ben Geoghegan reports on the latest developments in the Gaza Israel conflict
Palestinian and Israeli officials are continuing indirect talks in Cairo on a long-term truce in Gaza as the three-day ceasefire enters its last 24 hours.
Israeli officials say they are willing to extend the ceasefire before it expires on Friday morning.
But Hamas, which controls Gaza, says there is no agreement and there is a big gap between the sides' positions.
Four weeks of fierce fighting between Israeli forces and militants in Gaza claimed more than 1,900 lives.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon demanded an end to what he called the "senseless cycle of suffering" on Wednesday.
'Stabilise'Egyptian officials, who brokered the 72-hour ceasefire that began on Tuesday, were working against the clock on Thursday to persuade both sides to agree a long-term deal.
"Indirect talks are ongoing and we still have today to secure this," an Egyptian official told Reuters news agency when asked whether the truce was likely to be extended beyond 08:00 (05:00 GMT) on Friday.
"Egypt's aims are to stabilise and extend the truce with the agreement of both sides and to begin negotiations towards a permanent agreement to cease fire and ease border restrictions."
On Wednesday, Israeli officials said they had expressed their readiness to "extend the truce under its current terms". But the deputy political leader of Hamas, Moussa Abu Marzouk, said: "There is no agreement."
James Reynolds, BBC News, GazaThe first two days of the three-day ceasefire have come and gone. And the truce has held. But no-one here in Gaza knows what will happen once this final 24 hours have finished.
For now, many have taken the chance to go to the shops - and to visit homes destroyed during air strikes. Fishermen have gone back out on to their boats.
Indirect negotiations to extend the truce - and to discuss a more lasting agreement - are expected to continue in Cairo.
The two sides have very different demands. The Palestinian delegation wants Israel to end its restrictions on Gaza but Israel wants Hamas and other militants groups to give up their weapons for good.
The BBC's Sally Nabil in Cairo says the main Israeli demand for a long-term agreement is the demilitarisation of Gaza. That is highly unlikely to be accepted by Hamas, which considers itself a resistance movement and refuses to lay down its arms, she adds.
Hamas and the other Palestinian factions are meanwhile demanding an end to the blockade of Gaza and the freeing of prisoners released in exchange for Gilad Shalit in 2011 who were recently re-arrested. So far, there has been no response from the Israelis, our correspondent says.
Continue reading the main story-
4,760+ air strikes on Gaza
3,356 rockets fired at Israel
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1,875 people killed in Gaza
UN estimates +85% of deaths are civilians
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3 civilians killed in Israel
64 Israeli soldiers killed
AP
"Nobody accepts demilitarisation of the weapons in Gaza while the Israeli occupation is continuing and the siege on Gaza is continuing, and the crimes against our people are continuing," Palestinian official Wasel Abu Yousef told the Associated Press.
Israeli Communications Minister Gilad Erdan warned Palestinian militants not to disrupt the ceasefire, telling Israel Radio: "We are preparing for any situation and if they resume fire, the military will resume operations."
Medics 'targeted'Palestinian officials say at least 1,867 people have been killed since Israel launched Operation Protective Edge on 8 July with the aim of halting rocket fire from militants in Gaza and destroying the network of tunnels it said were used by militants to launch attacks inside Israel.
The UN says 1,354 of those who died were civilians, including 415 children and 214 women.
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Paul Adams reports: Artillery rounds are "incredibly destructive" but Israel says the military is "trying to minimise the civilian impact"
Israel's government says 64 soldiers were killed, along with two Israeli civilians and a Thai national. It also claims that about 900 Palestinian militants were killed in the fighting.
On Thursday, the human rights group Amnesty International called for an investigation into what it said was mounting evidence that Israeli forces had deliberately attacked hospitals and health professionals in Gaza. The attacks have left at least six medics dead.
"Our ambulances are often targeted although they are clearly marked and display all signs that they are ambulances," said Dr Bashar Murad, director of Palestinian Red Crescent Society's (PRCS) emergency and ambulance unit, which lost at least two members of staff.
"The army should be able to distinguish from the air that what they are targeting are ambulances."
Amnesty International said attacks on health facilities and professionals were prohibited by international law and amounted to war crimes.
Are you in the region? Email us at haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk adding 'Gaza Israel' in the subject heading and include your contact details.
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