Dublin: Thousands March In Support Of Palestine As Death Toll Reaches 1,000: UPDATED

Israel has agreed to extend by four hours a humanitarian ceasefire agreed in Gaza, an Israeli government source has told Reuters news agency.

It was not immediately clear if Hamas had also agreed to prolong the original 12-hour ceasefire.

Scores of bodies have been recovered from rubble across Gaza during the initial, 12-hour ceasefire.

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• Watch: Ceasefire comes into effect between Israel-Hamas

The humanitarian truce began at 8am local time in Gaza and many people emerged from shelters to inspect their homes and to buy food.

Israel described the truce as a humanitarian window.

Many neighbourhoods have been destroyed and bodies are being taken from the rubble across Gaza.

The death toll has reached 1,000 people in Gaza after 19 days of fighting. 37 Israeli citizens have been killed.
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Officials from the US, France, Britain and four other countries were meeting in Paris to discuss ways to help achieve a permanent ceasefire. 

The German foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said that a ceasefire would only last if Gaza no longer served as a weapons depot for Hamas.

He also urged that living conditions be improved.

Israel's military said it would hold fire for 12 hours, but would press on with its search for tunnels used by militants.

A spokesman for the Islamist group Hamas said all Palestinian factions would abide by the brief truce.

Hamas wants an end to an Israeli-Egyptian blockade of Gaza before agreeing to halt hostilities.

Protests across Ireland

People held protests, vigils and demonstrations across Ireland. www.ipsc.ie 

The biggest was hosted by the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign in Dublin, it was supported by other organisations including the Irish Congress of Trade Unions.

The Dublin demonstration started at the Spire and the rally marched to the Israeli Embassy where over 1,500 people listened to Palestinian and Irish speakers.

There were protests in Belfast, Cork, Derry, Limerick, Tralee, Waterford and many other places.

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Keywords: gaza, israel

Dublin: Animal Rights Activists Will Protest Against Badger Cull

‘bloody’ demonstrations by animal rights activists have been threatened against badger culling set to be carried out by the Department of Agriculture.

The bovine Tuberculosis (TB) eradication programme has been run by the Department of Agriculture over the past 10 years as part of a range of measures aimed at eradicating TB.

Approximately 6,000 badgers have been culled under the programme in recent years.

As the latest round of culling is set to begin, an animal rights group said it will protest the action.

“The removal of badgers is undertaken only in areas where badgers are the likely source of [TB] infection,” said the Agriculture Department.  The badgers are captured by trained contractors who are monitored by the Department. www.naracampaigns.org

“The objective of the research is to replace badger culling with vaccination when research

currently being undertaken demonstrates that this is a practicable proposition,” said the Department.

It recently sought expressions of interest from organisations interested in tendering for the provision of services, specifically capturing badgers and vaccinating badgers.

The closing date for expressions of interest was the end of June.

‘Bloody’ protest

Animal rights group ARAN said today it will stage a “lively, ‘bloody’ demonstration” in the coming weeks outside the Agriculture Department in Dublin and has vowed to “fight tooth and nail” to stop the increased kill.

The group will also be reaching out to Brian May, guitarist with band Queen and activist, for assistance during the campaign.

It is calling on Agriculture Minister, Simon Coveney, to step down over the cull.

The group said that there other more effective humane options available than killing the badgers.

ARAN believes that improvements in testing and the development of a cattle vaccine are the best ways to eliminate this disease.