President Barack Obama called Monday for “immediate and full access” to the crash site of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 in eastern Ukraine, as pro-Russia separatists block international workers’ efforts to examine the site. 
 
 “They are prepared, they are organized to conduct what should be the kinds of protocols … that should follow any international incident like this. What they need right now is immediate and full access to the crash site,” Obama said from the South Lawn of the White House. He also used his appearance before cameras to call for a cease-fire in Gaza between Israel and Hamas. 
 
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 reset Obama's full statement on Ukraine 
 
 In Ukraine, American and other foreign investigators have thus far been unable to secure the access they need. “Separatists are removing evidence from the crash site,” Obama said. “All of which begs the question, what exactly are they trying to hide?” 
 
 (POLITICO poll: Stay out of Ukraine, Mideast) 
 
 Russian President Vladimir Putin has professed a desire for an independent probe of the site but, Obama said, he must make that a reality by instructing the separatists to allow investigators to do their work. 
 
 “The burden now is on Russia to insist that the separatists stop tampering with the evidence, grant investigators who are already on the ground immediate, full and unimpeded access to the crash site,” Obama said. 
 
 If Putin does not follow through and continues to infringe on Ukraine’s sovereignty, Russia “will only continue to isolate itself” from the international community and will face further economic sanctions, Obama added. 
 
 (Full coverage of the MH17 plane crash in Ukraine) 
 
 The blocking of access to the site “is an insult to those who’ve lost loves ones,” he said, adding that four days after the crash, “time is of the essence.” 
 
 Juggling another international crisis, the latest round of tensions between Israel and Hamas, Obama repeated U.S. pleas for an immediate cease-fire and sent Secretary of State John Kerry to the Middle East. 
 
 “I’ve instructed him to push for an immediate cessation of hostilities,” Obama said. The loss of civilian lives on both the Israeli and Palestinian sides “is why it now has to be our focus and the focus of the international community to bring about a cease-fire that ends the fighting.” 
 
 An Israeli official stressed Monday that the only proposal that should be considered for a cease-fire should be the Egyptian one, calling it “the single game in town.” Attention to potential mediation by Qatar, Turkey or other nations is a distraction, the official said, urging that the focus remain on what Kerry can do to strength the proposal from the Egyptians, given the significant leverage over Hamas that Egypt has through the shared border and economic ties. 
 
 Asked what strengthening the proposal would entail, another Israeli official acknowledged, “that’s a question.” 
 
 But the Israeli officials stressed that they do not believe the word “disproportionate” applies to the current situation, arguing that the question is of civilian death vs. civilian death and that the civilians who have been killed because they were put in harm’s way by Hamas figure differently into the calculation. 
 
 The Israelis called for increased international attention to how Hamas has been using civilians and civilian facilities as human shields. 
 
 “It’s not a body-bag count,” the first official said. “That’s irrelevant from the point of proportionality.” 
 
 Edward-Isaac Dovere contributed to this report. ||||| Secretary of State John Kerry said Sunday the investigation into the crash and likely shoot-down of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 has already been “seriously compromised.” 
 
 “On Friday, the monitors and the people trying to get in there to secure the site were given 75 minutes. Yesterday, they were given three hours,” Kerry said on “Fox News Sunday.” 
 
 Kerry went on to describe “drunken separatist soldiers” taking bodies from the crash site and airline parts being removed from the area. 
 
 “Anything that has been removed compromises the investigation,” Kerry said. 
 
 “We need full access” to the site, Kerry said. “This is a moment of truth for Russia.” 
 
 The Kuala Lumpur-bound flight was apparently shot down over separatist-controlled Ukraine on Thursday. 
 
 Read more about: John Kerry, Ukraine Plane Crash ||||| Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption The BBC's Richard Galpin describes "horrific scenes in beautiful fields" where MH17 came down 
 
 Ukraine has accused pro-Russian militiamen at the site of the Malaysia Airlines crash of trying to destroy evidence of an "international crime". 
 
 For a second day, OSCE monitors at the scene have had their movements restricted by militiamen. 
 
 Reports that bodies have been moved prompted anger from the Netherlands. Most of the passengers were Dutch. 
 
 The jet was reportedly hit by a missile over a rebel-held area in east Ukraine on Thursday. All 298 people died. 
 
 Both Ukraine and the rebels have accused each other of shooting it down. 
 
 The Boeing 777 flight MH17 was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur. It fell between Krasni Luch in Luhansk region and Shakhtarsk in the neighbouring region of Donetsk. 
 
 The passenger list released by Malaysia Airlines shows the plane was carrying 193 Dutch nationals (including one with dual US nationality), 43 Malaysians (including 15 crew), 27 Australians, 12 Indonesians and 10 Britons (including one with dual South African nationality), four Germans, four Belgians, three from the Philippines, and one each from Canada and New Zealand. 
 
 Image copyright AFP Image caption The UN Security Council has called for a full and independent international investigation into the crash 
 
 Image copyright AFP Image caption The tragedy has shocked the world community 
 
 Image copyright AFP Image caption OSCE monitors say pro-Russian gunmen allowed them to visit more of the area on Saturday 
 
 Pressure on Russia 
 
 In a statement, the Ukrainian government complained that pro-Russian rebels had removed 38 bodies from the site near the village of Grabove and taken them to a morgue in the rebel-held city of Donetsk. 
 
 The BBC's Richard Galpin, who is at the crash site, says he saw bodies being removed by emergency workers, but it was not clear where they were being taken, nor whether the workers were loyal to the rebels or the government in Kiev. 
 
 Dutch Foreign Minister Frans Timmermans, who is visiting Ukraine, said he had been "shocked" by the reported removals. 
 
 "As soon as we receive proof, we will not rest until those guilty are put to trial - not only those who pulled the trigger, but also those who made it possible," he said. 
 
 At the scene: Fergal Keane, BBC News, Grabove 
 
 Image copyright AFP Image caption The OSCE monitors were forced to walk to the field where the plane crashed 
 
 At the main site the bodies were without covering. Some lay alone. Others were grouped together amid the twisted metal, the bags and cases, the child's playing cards, the guide books, the laptop computer, the duty free whiskey bottle, the woman's hat. 
 
 A militiaman with the nickname "Grumpy" - he was squat and barrel-chested with poor teeth and carried a machine gun - harangued me when I asked if the rebels would now stop fighting. 
 
 "You are only here because foreigners are dead," he said. And the old story was repeated, the same I have heard on numerous roadblocks - the Western media were all capitalists doing the bidding of their American and EU masters. 
 
 When the OSCE turned up in a convoy "Grumpy" came into his own. Now he was a man of power. He halted the OSCE and told them they would have to go forward on foot. 
 
 Scant respect for bodies at crash site 
 
 The world community, Ukraine added, must put pressure on Russia to pull back its "terrorists" and allow Ukrainian and international experts to carry out their inquiry. 
 
 Speaking in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysian Transport Minister Liow Tiong-Lai said it would be "inhumane" if Malaysian experts would not be given access to the crash site. 
 
 He also expressed concern that the site was not properly sealed and could be tampered with. 
 
 The monitors from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) are now at the site. 
 
 Image copyright Reuters Image caption The UK urged Russia to use its influence over the rebels to improve access to the site 
 
 OSCE spokesman Michael Bociurkiw said access had improved from Friday and that the monitors were seeing parts of the field they had not seen before. 
 
 However he added that their movements were still being restricted. "We are unarmed civilians, we are not in the position to argue heavily with people with heavy arms," he said. 
 
 The monitors' mission is to observe the site pending the arrival of international experts being sent to investigate the cause of the crash. 
 
 'Act of terrorism' 
 
 On Saturday the Russian foreign ministry urged both sides in the Ukrainian conflict "to do everything possible to give international experts access to the aircraft crash". 
 
 Earlier, the Russian defence ministry accused the West of waging an information war against Moscow. It challenged Ukraine to produce details of what its anti-aircraft systems were doing at the time. 
 
 UK Prime Minister David Cameron and his Dutch counterpart Mark Rutte - who discussed the matter in a phone conversation on Saturday - called on the EU to "reconsider its approach to Russia" following the disaster. 
 
 Separatist leaders have denied earlier reports that the plane's flight recorders - the so-called black boxes - had been found. 
 
 Ukraine's government called Thursday's disaster an "act of terrorism" and released what they say are intercepted phone conversations that proved the plane was shot down by separatists. 
 
 Ukrainian officials also said they had evidence Russian military personnel operated a sophisticated Buk missile system that is thought to have been used to shoot down the plane. 
 
 The pro-Russian separatists claim a Ukrainian air force jet brought down the airliner. ||||| Image copyright AP Image caption A Ukrainian army vehicle escorts OSCE cars in Donetsk region on Thursday 
 
 International forensic scientists have reached the site of the flight MH17 crash in east Ukraine after the government halted military operations. 
 
 Australian and Dutch police experts arrived in a convoy of Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) monitors. 
 
 Fighting between government and rebel forces had prevented them getting there for nearly a week. 
 
 Australia believes that around 80 bodies remain at the crash site. 
 
 Explosions were reportedly heard near the site after their arrival. 
 
 A journalist for AFP news agency heard several "powerful" blasts and saw a plume of smoke less than 10km (six miles) from the crash site. 
 
 Russian aviation experts are also in Ukraine, hoping to visit the site. 
 
 Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Malaysian PM Najib Razak calls for "justice for the victims" of the MH17 crash 
 
 The Malaysia Airlines plane crashed on 17 July in eastern Ukraine, with the deaths of all 298 people on board. 
 
 The rebels deny that they shot it down with a missile by mistake. 
 
 Officials in Russia, which has been accused by the US and others of supplying the rebels with advanced weaponry, suggest that Ukraine's own armed forces downed the jet - a charge rejected by Kiev. 
 
 Russia has come under increased pressure to end its support for the rebels despite having continually denied claims that it is arming and training them. 
 
 In other developments 
 
 Ukraine's parliament backed the potential deployment of up to 950 Dutch and Australian "armed personnel" at the crash site 
 
 The parliament also rejected the resignation of Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk after the recent collapse of his coalition 
 
 A new round of EU sanctions was revealed on Thursday following similar action by the US. Billionaire tycoon Arkady Rotenberg, a former judo sparring partner of President Vladimir Putin, is among those affected by EU travel bans and asset freezes 
 
 Separatist rebels are reportedly due to meet a Ukrainian delegation on Friday in Minsk, as Belarus hosts talks involving Ukraine, Russia and the OSCE 
 
 Rebel control 
 
 OSCE monitors on the ground said in a tweet that they had reached the crash site with the Dutch and Australian investigators after using a new access route. 
 
 Getting out of their cars, they stopped for a minute's silence in remembrance of those killed almost two weeks ago to the hour. 
 
 Image copyright Reuters Image caption Debris at the site of the flight MH17 crash in eastern Ukraine 
 
 The Dutch justice ministry told AFP the Dutch-Australian team was so far only a "reconnaissance" mission but would hopefully pave the way for more experts to visit soon. 
 
 It remains unclear when larger teams of police and forensics will be deployed, despite getting backing from the Ukrainian parliament, says the BBC's Tom Burridge in Kiev. 
 
 The Netherlands lost 193 of its citizens in the crash while Australia lost 27 and Malaysia 43. 
 
 Closure 
 
 Speaking on a visit to Kiev, Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said she had been told that 80 bodies could still be at the crash site. 
 
 "We are determined to access the site, so that we can collect the remains with some dignity and return them to the Netherlands where they can be identified," she said. 
 
 "And then the grieving families across the world who lost 298 people can have some closure." 
 
 Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said on a visit to the Netherlands that a team of 68 Malaysian police officers had arrived in Kiev to help with the investigation. 
 
 Speaking at a news conference, he and his Dutch counterpart, Mark Rutte, said they were united in mourning. 
 
 The Dutch prime minister outlined their three shared priorities: to repatriate the rest of the passengers' remains from Ukraine, to establish the cause of the crash and to bring those responsible to justice. 
 
 The crash area appears to be still under the control of rebel fighters, an AP news agency journalist at the scene said. 
 
 A Russian delegation led by Oleg Storchevoy, deputy head of Russia's federal air transport agency Rosaviatsia, arrived in Kiev earlier. 
 
 "Russian experts intend to meet the head of the investigative commission... and hand over all the materials that the chairman of the commission had previously asked for," Rosaviatsia said in a statement. 
 
 Image copyright Getty Images Image caption The Dutch (R) and Malaysian (L) prime ministers consoled each other when they met in The Hague 
 
 Image copyright AFP Image caption The Malaysian PM paid his respects in Hilversum, where the victims' remains are being identified 
 
 Image copyright Getty Images Image caption He also left a message of condolence for the victims of flight MH17 
 
 "Today, the Russian representatives will also try to reach the crash area of the Boeing 777 and together with specialists from the international investigative commission examine the state of parts of the aircraft at the site." 
 
 There was no comment on the Russians' involvement from Ukrainian and Dutch officials approached by AP. 
 
 The press service for Ukraine's "anti-terrorist operation" said troops would refrain from combat operations in the Donetsk region, except in self-defence, in order to allow investigators to do their work on Thursday. 
 
 Well over 1,000 civilians and combatants have been killed since the new Ukrainian government sent troops into east Ukraine in mid-April to quell the insurgency. 
 
 The rebels have been forced back towards their strongholds in the cities of Donetsk and Luhansk, which have come under heavy bombardment.
– John Kerry is off and running on the media blitz known as appearing on all five Sunday talk shows, and—with developments breaking this morning from Israel to the Malaysia Airlines plane crash—he has no shortage of things to discuss. Highlights, as per Politico: On the crash site: "It's been seriously compromised. On Friday, the monitors and the people trying to get in there to secure the site were given 75 minutes. Yesterday, they were given three hours. Drunken soldiers are piling bodies into trucks unceremoniously and disturbing the evidence. Anything that has been removed compromises the investigation. We need full access. This is a moment of truth for Russia." Further, "What's happening is really grotesque." On the Ukraine rebels involvement in the crash: "It's pretty clear that this is a system that was transferred from Russia into the hands of separatists. We know with confidence, with confidence, that the Ukrainians did not have such a system anywhere near the vicinity at that point and time so it obviously points a very clear finger to the separatists." His hot mic moment: While talking to an aide ahead of his appearance on Fox News Sunday, Kerry was caught discussing Israel. "It’s a hell of a pinpoint operation, it’s a hell of a pinpoint operation," he said. "We’ve got to get over there. Thank you John. I think John, we ought to go tonight. I think it’s crazy to be sitting around." On a ceasefire in Gaza: "We're hopeful, very hopeful, that we could quickly to try to find a way forward to put a cease fire in place so that the underlying issues, so that we can get to the questions. But you cannot reward terrorism. There can't be a set of preconditioned demands that are going to be met."