DHAKA: The skies over Gaza remained calm on the second day Tuesday of a 72-hour truce as negotiators in Cairo prepared to tackle the thorny issue of the Israeli blockade.

As Gaza’s residents ventured out to try to piece together their battered lives, Israeli and Palestinian negotiators were to sit down for a second day of indirect talks aimed at finding a durable end to the five-week confrontation.

But a senior Israeli official said there had been no progress so far, telling media there was still a long way to go to reach an agreement to end the conflict, which erupted on July 8 when Israel launched military operations to halt cross-border rocket fire from Gaza.

The fighting has claimed the lives of 1,940 Palestinians, mostly civilians, and 67 people on the Israeli side, most of them soldiers.

BDST: 1735 HRS, AUG 12, 2014