Palestinians killed after ceasefire announced
At least four Palestinians have been killed by Israeli tank fire nearly two hours after Israel and Hamas began observing a three-day ceasefire, Gaza officials have said.
Health Ministry official Ashraf al-Kidra and Gaza police spokesman Ayman Batniji said 15 other Palestinians were wounded in the shelling east of the southern Gaza city of Rafah.
An Israeli army spokesman in Jerusalem said the military was looking into the incident.
The ceasefire, announced hours earlier by America and the United Nations, took effect at 8am local time (6am Irish time).
The shelling happened shortly before 10am local time (8am Irish time), said Mr al-Kidra and Mr Batniji.
An Israeli army spokesman said a heavy exchange of fire had erupted in the Rafah area, without providing further details.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday vowed to destroy Hamas’s tunnel network “with or without a ceasefire”. But military spokesman Moti Almoz told Army Radio today that Israel would not be able to eliminate the tunnel threat “100%”.
The latest ceasefire was intended to allow Palestinians in Gaza to receive food, medicine and humanitarian assistance, bury their dead, treat the wounded and travel to their homes. The lull can also be used to make repairs to water and power infrastructure.
US Secretary of State John Kerry warned there were “no guarantees” that the lull would bring an end to the Gaza war, now in its fourth week.
Israel and Hamas both said they would respect the ceasefire, but respond to attacks.
At least four short humanitarian ceasefires have been announced since the conflict began, but each has been broken within a few hours by renewed fighting.
Hours before the ceasefire was to take effect, 17 Palestinians were killed in Israeli strikes. Israel’s military said five soldiers were killed along the Gaza border the previous evening.
More than 1,450 Palestinians have been killed since hostilities began on July 8, according to Palestinian officials. Israel says 61 of its soldiers and three civilians in Israel have been killed.
In the hours before the ceasefire, police reported heavy Israeli tank shelling in northern and eastern Gaza and the loud exchange of fire between Israeli troops and militants was audible throughout Gaza City. Tank shells landed on homes in the city, setting homes and shops ablaze.
Hamas fighters hit an Israeli tank with an anti-tank missile, Gaza police said, and then attacked Israeli troops who came to evacuate the tank crew. Clashes continued into the early morning hours, police said.
