Police in Egypt have blocked a convoy organised by opposition groups to carry medical supplies to the Gaza Strip. The convoy had been due to leave from the journalists’ syndicate in central Cairo but activists gathering there were surrounded by police.

Israel’s Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni has underlined her commitment to continue peace talks.Greeting French counterpart Bernard Kouchner, the Israeli Prime Minister-in-waiting said she would press ahead with US-sponsored peace negotiations.

In Turkey, thousands of people have gathered to pay their respects to 15 soldiers killed, according to military officials, by Kurdish fighters in the south-east of the country.