Israeli shelling kills about 70 Palestinians; truce collapses

Massive shelling by Israel killed about 70 people in the Hamas-ruled Gaza following the collapse of a 72-hour truce shortly after it began on Friday, while two of its soldiers died and another was believed to have been abducted by the Palestinian militant group.

The humanitarian ceasefire - brokered by the US and the UN to end more than three weeks of fighting between Israel and Palestinian militant groups in the Gaza Strip - collapsed just two hours after it began this morning.

At least 62 people were killed and more than 350 injured in massive Israeli artillery shelling in the southern Rafah since this morning.

Another four people were killed in tank shelling in Khan Yunis, also in southern Gaza, taking the Palestinian death toll to 1,525, mostly civilians.

Israeli forces also shot dead two Palestinians during separate clashes in the northern and central West Bank. The attacks have injured more than 7,000 Palestinians.

The Palestinian toll in the ongoing Israeli assault on Gaza has surpassed that of Operation Cast Lead in 2008-2009 as the conflict entered its 25th day on Friday.

According to the Palestinian Center for Human Rights, 1,417 Palestinians were killed during Operation Cast Lead, which was the longest conflict between the two sides lasting 22 days, before the current fighting began.

Meanwhile, Israeli army said two of its soldiers were killed and a third one may have been abducted by militants in the southern Gaza Strip on Friday, raising the death count to 63 soldiers, including two Indian-origin, as compared to 10 in 2008-09. Nearly 400 soldiers have been injured.

Three Israeli civilians and a Thai national also died in rocket and mortar attacks. "Initial indications suggest that a soldier has been abducted by terrorists in an incident where terrorists breached the ceasefire," Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) spokesman Lt Col Peter Lerner told reporters.

Hamas, which rules the narrow coastal strip, neither confirmed nor denied the abduction of the Israeli soldier. But it said Israel's announcement of the abduction was simply an excuse to "justify Israel's retreat from the truce."

Israel and Hamas have blamed each other for the collapse of the fragile ceasefire. It was not immediately clear as to which side broke the truce amid claims and counter-claims.

However, Egypt said its invitation to Israeli and Palestinian delegations for talks on a longer-term Gaza ceasefire was "still in place" despite the proposed 72-hour humanitarian truce breaking down.

"Once again, Hamas and the terror organizations in Gaza have blatantly broken the cease-fire to which they committed, this time before the American Secretary of State and the UN Secretary General," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said in a statement.

This morning, two Code Red sirens were heard in Eshkol Regional Council. Two rockets landed in an open area, Israel's Channel 10 reported.

The announcement of the truce was made in a statement released in New Delhi during US Secretary of State John Kerry's visit.

The US blamed Hamas for the breakdown of the 72-hour humanitarian truce, saying the "barbaric" attack by the Palestinian militant group was an "outrageous violation" of the ceasefire. (Read more)

"The United States condemns in the strongest possible terms today's attack, which led to the killing of two Israeli soldiers and the apparent abduction of another. It was an outrageous violation of the ceasefire negotiated over the past several days, and of the assurances given to the United States and the United Nations," Kerry said.

"Hamas, which has security control over the Gaza Strip, must immediately and unconditionally release the missing Israeli soldier, and I call on those with influence over Hamas to reinforce this message," he said in a statement.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon also condemned "in the strongest terms" the reported ceasefire violation by Hamas and demanded that an Israeli soldier captured in Gaza be released immediately.

"The Secretary-General condemns in the strongest terms, the reported violation by Hamas of the mutually agreed humanitarian ceasefire which commenced this morning. He is shocked and profoundly disappointed by these developments," Ban's spokesman said in a statement.

UN special coordinator for Middle East peace Robert Serry said the United Nations was informed by Israel of "a serious incident this morning after the start of the humanitarian ceasefire at 8:00 am (0500 GMT) involving a tunnel behind IDF (army) lines in the Rafah area."

"If corroborated, this would constitute a serious violation of the humanitarian ceasefire... by Gazan militant factions, which should be condemned in the strongest terms," the statement said.

The temporary ceasefire came into effect early on Friday after Israel accepted a joint proposal from the US and the UN which took into consideration a key demand by it.

Israel had been demanding that any ceasefire deal include a condition that allows its troops to remain in Gaza over the 72-hour truce which it says it would utilise to locate and neutralise tunnels infiltrating into Israel.