By Ofira Koopmans and Saud Abu Ramadan

TEL AVIV/GAZA (DPA) – Israeli resumed its military offensive in the Gaza Strip on Sunday, canceling a humanitarian ceasefire that was to have lasted until midnight, after Palestinian militants rejected an extension of the truce and launched a barrage of rocket attacks.

"Following Hamas' incessant rocket fire throughout the humanitarian window, which was agreed upon for the welfare of the civilian population in Gaza, the IDF (Israel Defence Forces) will now resume its aerial, naval and ground activity in the Gaza Strip," a military statement said.

"The IDF has repeatedly called out to the civilian population of Gaza not to approach combat zones."

The Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of the Islamist Hamas movement that controls the Gaza Strip, said it launched five Grad missiles towards the southern city of Ashdod and one M75 missile at Tel Aviv. The Quds Brigades, the armed wing of the smaller Islamic Jihad faction, also claimed several attacks.

Sirens sounded across southern and central Israel in the morning. One missile landed in Petah Tiqwa, east of Tel Aviv, but no one was injured, witnesses said.

Israel's Iron Dome defence system intercepted at least two missiles over Ashdod and Ashkelon, while others landed in an undeveloped area between the two southern coastal cities.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's security cabinet agreed Saturday to extend a humanitarian ceasefire for 24 hours, until midnight (2100 GMT) Sunday, but said the military will continue to destroy Hamas' tunnel networks in the Gaza Strip.

Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said the humanitarian ceasefire was "unacceptable" because Israeli soldiers continue searching for and destroying tunnels, and do not allow residents to return to their homes in some areas.

At least 1,049 Palestinians have been killed in the nearly three-week-long conflict. Scores of bodies were recovered from the rubble of bombed homes during the initial truce that began at 8 am (0500 GMT) Saturday.

More than 6,000 Palestinians have been wounded, Gaza Health Ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qedra said.

An Israeli soldier stationed outside Gaza died from mortar shrapnel late Saturday, the military said, bringing to 43 the number of soldiers killed since Israel sent ground troops into the salient on July 17.

The military warned Gaza residents not to return to previously evacuated areas. "Those who ignore these warnings are placing themselves at risk," it said.

As Gaza residents surfaced to buy food and supplies and inspect their homes during the 12-hour truce Saturday, the vast extent of the damage in became apparent. Entire blocks of buildings had been razed in eastern Gaza, where the fighting is concentrated, creating a grey landscape of rubble.

Thy also used the period of relative of calm after 19 days of fighting to bury the dead. 

Just before the temporary truce went into effect, at least 18 members of one Palestinian family, including 10 children, were killed in an Israeli airstrike.

At least six Palestinians were also killed in the West Bank during two days of protests in solidarity with the people of Gaza.

Hopes for a longer ceasefire were dashed when the Israeli government rejected a deal put forward during a meeting in Paris on Saturday that was attended by top diplomats from the United States, France, Germany, Italy, Turkey and Qatar.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said the participants were very close to reaching a seven-day ceasefire deal, "but Israel rejected the proposal at the last minute."

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said earlier in the discussions that a lasting ceasefire could only be achieved when "Gaza no longer serves as an arsenal for Hamas and living conditions of the Palestinian people are improved."

MANILA (DPA) – The Philippines' population reached an estimated 100 million Sunday, a milestone that officials said illustrated the need to provide basic services for more people.

"We have 100 million people in this country who need services," said Juan Antonio Perez, executive director of the Commission on Population. "Hopefully the government will be able to deliver."

The United Nations Population Fund said the milestone also presents an opportunity to push for better reproductive health services and more investments for education and health to eradicate poverty.

"There is a need to respond to the rights and needs of young people by providing them with education, job opportunities, and life skills including appropriate information about their sexuality," said Klaus Beck, country representative of the UN agency.

An estimated 54 per cent of the Philippine population is under the age of 25.

Efforts to control the population growth rate, one of the fastest in Asia, have been hampered by opponents of birth control.

In April, the Supreme Court upheld a law mandating the government to provide free contraceptives to the poor, after a decades-long debate and opposition by the Catholic Church.

By dpa correspondents

BRUSSELS (DPA) — The European Union has imposed sanctions against top Russian intelligence officials as it broadened its restrictive measures over the conflict in Ukraine.

The new travel bans and asset freezes were issued against 15 people and 18 entities, and published in the EU's Official Journal early Saturday and go into immediate effect.

Among the individuals were Mikhail Fradkov, the director of the Foreign Intelligence Service, and Aleksandr Bortnikov, the head of the Federal Security Service (FSB), for their involvement in "shaping the policy of the Russian government threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine."

The Moscow-appointed Chechen leader, Ramzan Kadyrov, was also on the list, as was Pavel Gubarev, the self-declared "people's governor" of Donetsk.

Gubarev "requested Russian intervention in eastern Ukraine, including through the deployment of Russian peacekeeping forces … is responsible for recruiting people for armed forces of separatists."

The EU said Kadyrov "made statements in support of the illegal annexation of Crimea and in support of the armed insurgency in Ukraine." Last month, Kadyrov "expressed his readiness to send 74,000 Chechen volunteers to Ukraine if requested to do so."

The new measures bring to 87 the number of people blacklisted for actions against Ukraine's territorial integrity, while 20 entities will now have been targeted.

The self-proclaimed "people's republics" of Donetsk and Luhansk, as well as other illegal armed separatist groups were included in the list of 18 entities.

The EU on Friday said it is drafting legislation that could be used to implement economic sanctions against Russia, coming one step closer to carrying out the unprecendented measures.

Diplomats said EU ambassadors have agreed in principle to the sanctions, which would target Russia's access to capital markets, its defence sector, and its imports of dual-use goods and sensitive technologies, including in the energy sector.

The European Commission has been tasked with drafting legislative proposals by Tuesday, when ambassadors will reconvene in Brussels.

The EU has so far shied away from economic sanctions against Russia amid fears of repercussions for its own economy.

But the crash of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 with 298 people on board in eastern Ukraine appears to have tipped the scales.

Asked about the timing of the sanctions, Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said: "What the EU does is a matter for the EU. We certainly have no plans to increase our sanctions."

His focus was to bring home the remains of Australian nationals, Abbott said, not the separate issue of "the geopolitics of Eastern Europe."

The United States, Ukraine and European countries have accused Moscow-backed rebels of firing at the Boeing 777, alleging there is also evidence to suggest Russian-made surface-to-air missiles were used in the doomed jetliner's downing.

Russia denies sending any such missiles to the rebels.

Meanwhile, the Netherlands and Australia continue to push for investigators' access to the rebel-controlled crash site, as a large piece of the fuselage was found eight days after the plane was shot down.

There were 194 Dutch citizens, 43 Malaysian citizens and 37 Australian nationals and residents on the plane that went down on July 17, near Ukraine's border with Russia, while en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur.

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak is to meet his Dutch counterpart Mark Rutte in the Netherlands next week to discuss, among other issues, using Malaysian pathologists in expediting the process of identifying the remains.

The two leaders will also discuss securing full access to the crash site and the collection of evidence, a government statement said.

Malaysian Transport Minsiter Liow Tiong Lai said there are currently 17 Malaysian forensics experts in the Netherlands, 10 in Kiev and another 12 in Kharkiv, eastern Ukraine.

Abbott said the last airlift of coffins from Kharkiv to the Netherlands will take place on Saturday. The Dutch government said 35 coffins carrying victims' remains are to be flown back. However, several bodies remain missing.

A total of 189 coffins containing the remains of victims have arrived in the Netherlands for identification, the government said. It is unclear how many bodies were in the caskets.

By dpa correspondents

TEL AVIV (DPA) — Hamas and Israel will observe a 12-hour humanitarian ceasefire in the Gaza Strip beginning Saturday morning, as talks on a more durable ceasefire move to Paris.

Pro-Hamas al-Aqsa television and the Hamas news agency al-Ray in Gaza quoted senior Hamas officials as saying that the announcement of the ceasefire follows a United Nations appeal to the two sides. It will begin at 8:00 am (0500 GMT) on Saturday.

The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) announced a "humanitarian window" in the Gaza Strip, but said it would continue destroying tunnels in the Gaza Strip during the ceasefire.

The IDF statement about the ceasefire came hours after Hamas media announced it.

The statement warned Gaza civilians who have been told to vacate their residence not to return. It also warned that the IDF "shall respond if terrorists choose to exploit this time to attack IDF personnel or fire at Israeli civilians."

It is the second ceasefire the two sides have accepted since the start 19 days ago of a large-scale Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip, where around 865 Palestinians have been killed and 5,700 injured, according to medics.

Hopes for a longer ceasefire ebbed and flowed throughout the day Friday amid reports and rejections that all or part of the US-brokered deal had been rejected by Israel.

Israeli media outlets said the deal had been rejected. Officials reportedly said the terms of the deal did not meet the government's minimum requirement, without elaborating.

But US Secretary of State John Kerry categorically denied those reports at a Cairo press conference with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukri.

He said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had talked to him moments before the Cairo press conference and assured him that reports of an Israeli rejection were false.

"That is in error, inaccurate," said Kerry. "Let's make that absolutely clear."

The UN, US and Egypt had pushed for a seven-day humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza, Kerry said, stressing that the only way for "this issue to be resolved … is for the parties to be able to come together and work through it."

Kerry said there would be a meeting in Paris Saturday to further discuss the ceasefire proposal. Shoukri said more effort was needed to get all parties to agree.

Earlier reports stated that Kerry's proposal would allow Israeli forces to continue to destroy tunnels in Gaza used for attacks against Israel during any ceasefire.

Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, is insisting on an easing of the tight blockade on the coastal enclave, in place for the past seven years, in exchange for an end to hostilities.

Hamas officials have told Palestinian media that they were looking into Kerry's proposal, but are unhappy with the option for the Israeli military to stay in Gaza.

More than 850 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the start of the Israeli offensive nearly three weeks ago, according to medics. In Israel, 34 soldiers and three civilians have died.

The humanitarian situation in Gaza is worsening. Food, medicine and water are in short supply.

With more than 150,000 people displaced, the UN says nearly half of the territory is unsafe, leaving residents with nowhere to find shelter. The borders to Egypt and Israel are mostly locked down.

A UN school where Palestinians had sought shelter was shelled on Thursday, killing 16. It is still unclear who was responsible for the attack.

It was the fourth UN facility to be hit during the conflict and highlighted the dire plight of many civilians in Gaza.

Palestinian militants have continued to fire rockets into Israel. An Israeli soldier died in combat in Gaza on Friday morning, the military said.

The Israeli government launched its offensive 18 days ago, saying the goal was to curb rocket fire from Gaza that started amid rage at the deaths of four teenagers – three Israeli and one Palestinian.