Berlin- Demonstrators attacked a pro-Israeli stand on Saturday during rallies in German cities against the war in Gaza.

The incident occurred in the northern city of Kassel, where hundreds of protesters marched through the streets calling for an end to the hostilities.

A small group of protesters tried to grab Israeli flags and posters from the stand, while other demonstrators egged them on. Police defused the situation and the march proceeded.

No violence was reported from two other rallies called by the Islamic communities in the northern ports of Hamburg and Kiel. More than 1,100 people took art in the protests, police said.

Gaza - A Hamas official in Gaza called on Saturday for international recovery and reconstruction efforts, adding that the Islamist movement would try to sue Israel in international courts for damages caused over the past 22 days of conflict in the enclave.

Taher el-Noono, spokesman of the Hamas government in Gaza, said in a written statement sent to reporters that "after the end of the aggression, Gaza needs to be rebuilt and the leaders of the occupation should be sued."

Since Israel began Operation Cast Lead on December 27, more than 1,200 Palestinians have been killed and over 5,200 wounded.

Cairo - Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg arrived to Cairo Saturday for talks with Egyptian officials over possible a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.

Schwarzenberg, whose country currently holds the rotating EU presidency, said the EU fully backed efforts for an immediate ceasefire in the strip.

Following his meeting with Egyptian Foreign Minster Ahmed Aboul Gheit, Schwarzenberg said discussions tackled "post ceasefire plans which includes rebuilding Gaza."

Dhaka - Several Islamist parties in Muslim-dominated Bangladesh staged demonstration Friday protesting the Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip, with rights groups calling for an end to Israel's "crime against humanity."

"We believe the atrocities in Gaza clearly constitute a crime against humanity by the Israeli state," read a statement issued by Odhikar, a Bangladeshi coalition of human rights groups. It expressed deep concern over continued attacks by the Israeli military that have killed more than 1,100 people, many of them civilian women and children.

Kuwait City/Doha - Diplomatic discord reigned on Friday in the Arab world in the midst of three competing summits aimed at bringing a ceasefire to Gaza.

Following a meeting of Gulf Cooperation Council members in the Saudi Arabian capital Riyadh on Thursday, neighbouring state Qatar hosted its own conference on Friday, with members of Hamas' Damascus- based political bureau present. Egypt, the main mediator between the militant Palestinian movement and Israel, did not attend.

A further meeting on the Gaza crisis was due to take place at an Arab League economic meeting in Kuwait on Monday.

Gaza City /Tel Aviv - Israeli ground troops pulled back to the outskirts of Gaza City Friday, as Israeli officials were in Washington and once again Cairo Friday to work out the details of an agreement to end nearly three weeks of deadly fighting.

As the talks went on, the troops pushed toward al-Zahara, a town in the centre of the strip, sparking heavy gunbattles with local militants in the late afternoon.