JERUSALEM: US airlines lifted a flight ban to Israel Thursday as Washington's top diplomat cited progress in ending 17 days of bloodshed in Gaza which has killed 718 Palestinians.
The ban was lifted just hours after US Secretary of State John Kerry wrapped up talks in Jerusalem and Ramallah and returned to Cairo to continue pushing regional efforts to ink a ceasefire.
Hamas had hailed the suspension of Tel Aviv flights by US and European airlines as a "great victory for the resistance."
"The FAA has lifted its restrictions on US airline flights into and out of Israel's Ben Gurion Airport," the US national aviation agency said early Thursday, two days after imposing a ban on commercial flights when a rocket hit a house very close to the runways.
But it warned the situation was still "very fluid" as the fighting raged on in Gaza. There was no immediate word on whether European airlines would follow suit.
As truce efforts mounted, Hamas's exiled leader Khaled Meshaal vowed there would be no end to the fighting without the lifting of Israel's eight-year blockade on Gaza.
"We will not accept any initiative that does not lift the blockade on our people and that does not respect their sacrifices," he said.
Meanwhile on the ground, 21 people were killed as Israel continued to strike Gaza, among them a family of six, including a five-year-old girl and boy of three.
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