Salem-News.com Gaza Strip articles

Israel, Hamas Off to Rocky Start in New Peace Talks

Egyptian and Palestinian sources said Israel had tentatively agreed to allow some supplies into the Gaza Strip.

(CAIRO) - Israel and the Palestinians renewed a truce that had largely tempered a five-week-old war, but the deal got off to a shaky start on Thursday with rockets from Gaza slamming into Israel, and Israel retaliating with air strikes.

Hamas, which denied involvement in firing some of what Israel counted as eight rockets shot just as an earlier truce expired on Wednesday, and accused the Jewish state of violating the new truce by launching air strikes.

Gaza Truce Holds into Second Day; Peace Talks Moving Forward

Palestinians want an end to the Israeli-Egyptian blockade on impoverished Gaza, and the release of prisoners.

(GAZA CITY) - A Gaza truce was holding on Wednesday as Egyptian mediators pursued talks with Israeli and Palestinian representatives on an enduring end to a war that has devastated the Hamas Islamist dominated enclave.

Egypt's intelligence chief met a Palestinian delegation in Cairo, the state news agency MENA said, a day after he conferred with Israeli representatives.

Israeli Troops Leaving Gaza after Deadly Air Strike on UN School

The United States was "appalled by today's disgraceful shelling" and urged Israel to do more to prevent civilian casualties.

(GAZA CITY) - An Israeli air strike killed 10 people and wounded about 30 on Sunday in a U.N.-run school in the southern Gaza Strip, a Palestinian official said, as dozens died in Israeli shelling of the enclave and Hamas fired rockets at Israel.

With the fighting in its 27th day, Reuters TV footage showed a column of Israeli tanks and dozens of infantrymen leaving Gaza. But an Israeli military spokesman denied reports by Israeli and some U.S. media that most Israeli troops had been pulled out of the coastal enclave.

50 Palestinians Killed, over 200 Wounded as Ceasefire Falls Apart

The UN condemned Hamas's reported violation of the ceasefire and demanded the release of the soldier.

(JERUSALEM) - Israel declared a Gaza ceasefire over on Friday, saying Hamas militants breached the truce soon after it came into effect and apparently captured an Israeli officer while killing two other soldiers.

Renewed Israeli shelling killed more than 50 Palestinians and wounded some 220, hospital officials said.

Israel and Hamas Agree on 72-Hour Ceasefire

Israel and Palestinian delegations in the meantime will travel to Cairo for separate negotiations to reach a more durable ceasefire.

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) - A three-day ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian militant groups in the Gaza Strip went into effect on Friday, and negotiators were due to travel to Cairo to discuss a longer-term solution.

The 72-hour break, the most ambitious attempt so far to end more than three weeks of fighting, began at 1:00 a.m. EDT. The truce was announced in a joint statement released by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

As Gaza Death Toll Tops 1,000, UN Calls for Immediate Cease-Fire

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed the call by Hamas for a cease-fire, saying the group violated its own call for a brief stoppage in violence.

(GAZA CITY) - With more than 1,000 people killed in the Israel-Hamas conflict, the U.N. Security Council held an emergency meeting in New York early Monday and announced "strong support for an immediate and unconditional humanitarian cease-fire" in Gaza.

The call for a cease-fire came after Hamas and Israel began firing again at each other Sunday after a temporary cease-fire failed.

Israel Agrees to Truce Extension; Hamas Answers by Launching Rockets

Late on Saturday, militants ignored an Israeli announcement that it would extend the truce by four hours and resumed firing rockets into Israel.

(JERUSALEM) - Israel's security cabinet approved extending the humanitarian ceasefire begun early on Saturday until midnight local time 5:00 p.m. on Sunday, an Israeli government official said.

"At the request of the United Nations, the cabinet has approved a humanitarian hiatus until tomorrow -- Sunday -- at 24:00. The IDF (Israel Defence Forces) will act against any breach of the ceasefire," the official, who was not named, said in a statement.

Israeli Ground Forces Moving into Gaza Strip

Prior to the commencement of the ground invasion, the IDF launched a massive wave of combined air and artillery strikes on Thursday night.

(TEL AVIV) - Israeli Defense ground forces began to move into the Gaza Strip on Thursday evening, the prime minister's office confirmed.

“In light of Hamas' continuous criminal aggression, and the dangerous infiltration into Israeli territory, Israel is obligated to act in defense of its citizens,” a statement from Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's office said.

Israel`s Offensive has Killed 145 Palestinians Since Tuesday

Israel is keeping its options open for a possible ground offensive into densely populated Gaza despite international pressure to negotiate a ceasefire in the conflict.

(GAZA CITY) - An Israeli air strike on the home of Gaza's police chief killed 18 people on Saturday, Gaza's health ministry said, and Hamas fired the largest salvo of rockets yet on Tel Aviv since the start of the Jewish state's offensive in the Palestinian enclave.

The strike on the home of Tayseer Al-Batsh in Gaza City was the deadliest bombing since Israel launched its offensive on Tuesday to end Palestinian rocket fire into its territory.

Netanyahu Won`t Cave to World Pressure; Will Continue Military Offensive

Hamas says it intends to fire rockets at the airport and warned foreign airlines to stop flying to Israel.

(TEL AVIV, Israel) - Israel's prime minister says he will not cave in to international pressure to stop a military offensive in the Gaza Strip.

Benjamin Netanyahu told a news conference Friday that Israel will continue its offensive until rocket fire out of Gaza is halted. Netanyahu said Israel has attacked more than 1,000 targets in Gaza during the four-day operation.