Israeli soldiers mourn during the funeral of their comrade, Staff Sgt Alex Mashavisky, in the military cemetery of the southern Israeli town of Beersheba, yesterday. Mashavisky was killed Tuesday during the Israeli army operations in the Gaza Strip. Six Israeli soldiers have been killed and about 300 of the more than 670 Palestinians killed so far in the operation are civilians, according to Palestinian and United Nations figures. - AP
GAZA CITY, Gaza (AP):
Israeli airstrikes and Hamas rockets resumed yesterday after a brief lull to allow food and fuel to reach Palestinian civilians in Gaza, where an Israeli warplane dropped leaflets urging residents to flee because of imminent attacks.
Even as the government tentatively welcomed a ceasefire proposal from Egypt and France, the Israeli military was instructed to continue its assault on Hamas.
Israel says it needs guarantees that any ceasefire will halt rocket fire and prevent Hamas from rearming, while Hamas demands that Gaza's blockaded border crossings be opened.
12 days of bloodshed
Despite the reservations, the proposal could mark the first sign of a possible exit from 12 days of bloodshed in Gaza, accompanied by continued Hamas rocket fire on southern Israel.
Israeli strikes have killed at least 688 Palestinian since December 27, including around 350 civilians, among them 130 children, according to Palestinian officials.
Israel says it has killed at least 130 Gaza militants since it launched its ground offensive Saturday. Ten Israelis have been killed during the offensive, including three civilians.
Yesterday, 29 Palestinians were killed, including at least 22 civilians and two Islamic Jihad militants, medics said. In one incident, a family of four was killed in an airstrike on their car, medics said.
Mass funeral
In the Jebaliya refugee camp, residents yesterday held a mass funeral for 40 people killed a day before by Israeli mortar fire toward a UN school. Israel says Hamas militants fired mortar shells from an area near the school, and that Israeli responded to this attack.
The bodies, wrapped in blankets, were laid out in a long row on the ground, with mourners kneeling in Muslim prayer before them. Among the mourners was Mushir al-Masri, a Hamas legislator.