Israel, Hamas Begin 72-Hour Truce in Gaza
by VOA News August 05, 2014
A 72-hour cease-fire between Israel and Hamas took effect early Tuesday in the Gaza Strip.
During the expected pause in fighting, Israeli and Palestinian officials will hold talks in Egypt on negotiating a long-term truce.
It is the latest attempt to end four weeks of violence that has killed more than 1,800 Palestinians, mostly civilians, as well as 64 Israeli soldiers and three Israeli civilians.
Several attempted cease-fires have failed, including last Friday, when what was supposed to be a three-day truce ended in just two hours.
The U.S. State Department on Monday urged both parties to "completely" respect the latest truce effort, saying it could help lead to a more durable solution.
United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon also praised the truce, saying talks should commence "as soon as possible" and deal with "underlying issues."
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday the country's military forces were nearing the end of their push to destroy tunnels Hamas has used to store weapons and infiltrate the Jewish state.
But, he added, Israel's 28-day campaign to demilitarize Gaza and end Hamas rocket launches into Israel will end only when there is "a prolonged period of quiet and security" for Israeli citizens.
Hamas is demanding Israel withdraw its forces from Gaza, end its blockade of the coastal enclave, release Palestinian prisoners, and provide other assistance for residents who already faced a humanitarian crisis before the fighting began.
On Monday, emergency workers in Gaza City said Israeli warplanes bombed the Shati refugee camp, killing an 8-year-old girl and wounding 30 others just minutes before an earlier seven-hour truce expired.
The Israeli military said it is looking into the report, while accusing militants of firing four rockets from Gaza into Israel.
Israeli has also come under international criticism for a Sunday airstrike in the southern Gaza town of Rafah that killed at least 10 civilians who had sought shelter in a United Nations school.
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius asked how many more deaths it would take "to stop what must be called the carnage in Gaza." The U.S. and U.N. already condemned the strike.
Israel's military said it had targeted three suspected militants near the school, and said it was "reviewing the consequences" of the strike.
In Jerusalem Monday, a Palestinian man rammed a massive construction excavator into a bus, killing a nearby pedestrian. Police described the incident as a "terrorist attack." A short time later, Israeli media reported that a gunman on a motorcycle shot and seriously wounded an Israeli soldier before fleeing.
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