An Israeli officer missing in Gaza was likely killed in an IDF strike, Hamas said early on Saturday as Israel's Operation Protective Edge entered its 26th day.
The Israeli military on Friday cited indications that the officer, Second Lt. Hadar Goldin, 23, was taken captive in Rafah, a city in the Gaza Strip's south. Two other soldiers were killed in the attack, raising the number of Israeli military fatalities to 63. The announcement came not long after a 72-hour humanitarian cease-fire agreed upon by Israel and Hamas collapsed within two hours of being launched.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and U.S. President Barack Obama condemned Hamas for the abduction.
At least 70 people were killed and 100 were wounded in subsequent Israeli bombardments of Rafah, Palestinian medical officials said. The Palestinian death toll in the current round of fighting has exceeded 1,600, according Gaza health ministry figures.
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For Friday's live updates, click here
Live updates [Saturday]:
11:06 A.M. A senior Israel Defense Forces officer said Saturday morning that the army is "very close to completing" the mission of destroying tunnels in the Gaza Strip. According to the IDF, four tunnels have been destroyed in Gaza in the past 24 hours.
"We are very close to completing the mission of dealing with the tunnels," the officer said.
The army cautiously estimates that in the next two days it will be able to announce that it has exploded all the tunnels it has found. "In the next 48 hours, we will continue in our efforts to do everything necessary to block the tunnels, and more decisions will be made as we progress," the officer added.
Israeli forces are continuing to operate in the Rafah area in an effort to gain more information on 2nd Lt. Hadar Goldin, who appears to have been captured. Troops are sweeping houses and suspicious sites in the area, accompanied by massive shelling.
The IDF says it cannot say anything about Goldin's state, but according to information at the army's disposal, he was together with Major Benaya Sarel and Staff Sergeant Liel Gidoni during the attack, both of whom died. The IDF says Sarel and Gidoni are believed to have been killed in an attack by a suicide bomber and that fire was exchanged during the incident.
The senior officer also said there are no more soldiers left to question about the incident, except for those who were dozens of meters away from the site at the time.
Among 55 sites struck by the IDF overnight Friday were five mosques, which the army says stored rockets and were used as terrorist command centers, and a site at the Islamic University that was used, according to the army, for military activity. (Gili Cohen)
10:00 A.M. The IDF has struck 55 targets in Gaza since midnight. (Gili Cohen)
9:50 A.M. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has expressed frustration with U.S. efforts to forge a truce in Gaza in the aftermath of the humanitarian cease-fire's collapse, the Associated Press reports.
Netanyahu said in a phone conversation with U.S. Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro that the Obama administration was "not to ever second-guess me again" and that Washington should trust his judgment on how to deal with Hamas, according to people familiar with the conversation.
Netanyahu added that he now "expected" the U.S. and other countries to fully support Israel's offensive in Gaza, according to those familiar with the call. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter by name. (AP and Barak Ravid)
9:38 A.M. Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat says that a Palestinian delegation will travel to Cairo this evening despite the collapse of the humanitarian cease-fire.
He expresses hope that U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will convince Israel to send negotiators to Egypt as well to relay its demands, "including the matter of the missing soldier."
According to Erekat, this is the only way to advance a truce. (Jack Khoury)
9:12 A.M. At least 30 people killed in an intensive Israeli aerial, naval and ground offensive were brought to a Gaza hospital this morning, according to Palestinian reports. Most of the fatalities came from Rafah. Seven were members of the Abu Suleiman family, whose home was struck around 3 A.M.
Some of the bodies recovered overnight were casualties of Friday's strikes.
According to the Palestinian health ministry, the death toll in the Israeli operation currently stands at 1,624, including 315 children. Some 8,750 have been wounded, including 2,307 children. (Jack Khoury)
6:21 A.M. Iron dome intercepts rocket over Be'er Sheva. (Gili Cohen)
6:14 A.M. Rocket sirens sound in Be'er Sheva and other towns in southern Israel.
6:08 A.M. Iron Dome intercepts two rockets over central Israel. (Gili Cohen)
6:02 A.M. Rocket sirens sound throughout central Israel including Tel-Aviv, Ra'anana, and Petah Tikva.
5:30 A.M. The U.S. Congress approved $225 million in emergency funding for Israel's "Iron Dome" missile defense system on Friday, sending the measure to President Barack Obama to be signed into law. The House of Representatives approved the funding by a 395-8 vote late on Friday, several hours after the Senate passed it unanimously. (Reuters)
4:49 A.M. Israel Air Force bombing in Jabalia, north Gaza.
2:30 A.M. Hamas Military Wing issues a statement saying that they believe that the missing Israeli officer was killed in an Israeli bombardment. "We lost contact with the group of combatants that took part in the ambush, and we believe they were all killed in the bombardment. Assuming that they managed to abduct the soldier during combat, we assess that he was also killed in the incident."
According to the statement the group told mediators that they were ready for a humanitarian cease-fire and that they would not shoot rockets into Israel. (Jack Khoury)
2:20 A.M. The Anti-Defamation League calls on the international community to "unequivocally condemn Hamas' flagrant and ruthless violation of a humanitarian ceasefire and to fully support all efforts to ensure the unconditional safe and immediate return of kidnapped Israel Defense Force officer Hadar Goldin."
2:10 A.M. According to the Gaza Ministry of Health, the number of Palestinians killed in Gaza attack on Rafah over the last few hours has gone up to 70. The number of people injured has surpassed 100. Witnesses told the New York Times that IDF tanks are shelling east Rafah while civilians that evacuated their homes returned to see if they survived the attack.
1:10 A.M. Israeli security cabinet meeting ends after five hours of discussions.(Barak Ravid)
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