Kidnapped Israeli soldier 'alive' say Hamas

The soldier whose abduction sparked Israel’s invasion of Gaza is alive and in stable condition, a Palestinian official said today, as President Mahmoud Abbas warned that the coming hours were “critical, sensitive and serious” to resolving the crisis.

Israeli soldiers and Palestinian militants exchanged fire for several hours this afternoon when Israeli tanks and bulldozers crossed the border with Gaza and began razing farmland east of the town of Khan Younis.