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Gaza truce over, Israel soldier captured, 50 dead in Rafah shelling

01 August 2014 20:31 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. 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, APA reports quoting Reuters.

Renewed Israeli shelling killed more than 50 Palestinians and wounded some 220, hospital officials said. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called his security cabinet into special session and publicly warned Hamas and other militant groups they would "bear the consequences of their actions".

The 72-hour break announced by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was the most ambitious attempt so far to end more than three weeks of fighting, and followed mounting international alarm over a rising Palestinian civilian death toll.

Kerry called on Hamas, which has neither confirmed nor denied it is holding the soldier, to release him immediately and unconditionally. He said he had asked Qatar, which is close to Hamas, and Turkey to help free him.

"We have urged them, implored them, to use their influence to do whatever they can to get that soldier returned," a senior State Department official told reporters travelling with Kerry. "Absent that, the risk of this continuing to escalate, leading to further loss of life is very high."

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

The ceasefire, which began at 8 a.m. (0500 GMT), had prompted Palestinian families to trek back to battle-devastated neighbourhoods where rows of homes have been reduced to rubble.

It was to be followed by Israeli-Palestinian negotiations in Cairo on a longer-term solution.

A senior Egyptian Foreign Ministry official said the talks would start on Sunday, and that Cairo "expects the two sides to cease fire before the launch of negotiations".