Abbas says talks with Israel must continue

Gaza Strip: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said on Tuesday he will not pull out of peace talks with Israel, despite the latest round of Israel-Hamas fighting, and Egyptian guards firing in the air drove back hundreds of Gaza women surging toward the Egyptian border to demand a blockade of the territory be lifted.

Also Tuesday, Israel delivered fuel for Gaza's power plant, partially lifting the closure it had imposed last week in response to a sharp increase in rocket attacks by Palestinian militants.

Israeli tanker trucks were pumping 700,000 liters of fuel to the other side, enough to provide electricity to Gaza City for two days. Other trucks were delivering cooking gas, and a shipment of medicine was to be sent later in the day.

The latest round of Israel-Gaza fighting erupted last week, amid a spike in rocket fire on Israeli border communities, and prompted Israel to seal the territory and cut off fuel supplies. Gaza's power plant shut down, cutting off electricity to about one-third of Gaza's residents, and international aid groups warned they may have to suspend food distribution to hundreds of thousands of people by the end of the week for lack of truck fuel.