30 killed in Gaza but Israel warns withdrawal to border does not mean the end

ISRAELI tanks and troops pulled back to the Israel-Gaza border yesterday after a particularly deadly incursion that killed 30 Palestinians over three days.

However, the Israeli army said the withdrawal was temporary and did not signify the end of its month-long offensive.

The latest Gaza fighting came as the world’s attention stayed fixed on fighting further north, where Israel is waging war with Lebanon- based Hezbollah fighters.

An end to the violence in Gaza does not appear to be in sight. Moreover, Palestinian officials said yesterday that negotiations for the release of prisoners had stalled.

Palestinian officials said they had not received a response from Israel to their reduced conditions for the release of 19-year-old Israeli Corporal Gilad Shalit, who was captured by Hamas- linked militants on June 25.

Hamas has called for Israel’s guarantees that it would free women, children and long-serving Palestinian prisoners if Cpl Shalit is released.

Dr Salah Bardawil, a senior Hamas official, said Israel’s refusal to guarantee that it would release any Palestinian prisoners if Cpl Shalit was freed created the stalemate. Dr Bardawil also denied reports that Hamas and Hezbollah were cooperating in negotiations for the release of prisoners.

He said, however, that he would support such an effort “if it is in the interests of both Lebanese and Palestinians”.

Israel’s incursion into Gaza began after militants killed two soldiers and captured Cpl Shalit, who remains in an unknown location in the custody of the Palestinian militant groups.

According to an Associated Press count, Israeli troops have killed 159 Palestinians since they began attacking Gaza to recover Shalit and stop Palestinian militants firing rockets into Israel.

Most of those killed were militants, but also included a large number of civilians.

The Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility yesterday for a rocket attack on the southern Israeli town of Zikim, that injured two children who were hit by shrapnel.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, in Algeria, said the situation in the Palestinian territories and Lebanon was likely to get worse after world leaders failed to agree on an immediate cease-fire at a summit in Rome on Wednesday.

“The situation will worsen and the consequences will be very heavy, not only for the region but probably for the entire world,” he told Algeria’s official APS news agency.