Five more soldiers confirmed killed in infiltration

Israel's new president Reuven Rivlin visited the family of 1st Sgt. Ben Yitzhak Va'anunu who was killed in battle July 20. [MARK NEYMAN/GPO]

The Israel Defence Forces (IDF)confirmed five more Israeli soldiers, died during the infiltration of gunmen into a southern kibbutz through a tunnel from Gaza.

The five soldiers were killed during the previously reported thwarted attack on Kibbutz Nahal Oz, located near the Gaza border, on Monday afternoon, during which one of the infiltrators was killed, according to a statement from the IDF.

Five other soldiers were killed Monday, in a mortar attack on the border with Gaza.

The total of Israeli soldiers killed so far in the Gaza operation is 53.

The military wing of Hamas issued a statement on Monday’s infiltration. “If they haven’t had enough of our strikes yet, our fighters still have so much to surprise their leaders with. It is our promise to our people that their blood will not be wasted,” the group said in a statement published in part by the Palestinian Maan news agency.

The group said they tried and failed to capture an Israeli soldier during the incident, but said that they seized an Israeli Tavor assault rifle.

The IDF said in a statement that it targeted over 70 “terror sites” in Gaza on Monday night and early Tuesday morning, including four weapon storage sites concealed within mosques, and a tunnel.

The IDF said it also struck the broadcast headquarters of the Al-Aksa station, which the military says is used “to incite Palestinians against Israel, to transit orders and messages to Hamas operatives and to instruct Gaza residents to ignore IDF warnings regarding upcoming military activity in specific areas.”

As of Tuesday morning, the death toll in Gaza stood at 1,156, with more than 6,700 injured, according to Maan.

The Palestinian Authority announced on Tuesday that it has brokered a 24-hour humanitarian ceasefire with all Palestinian factions, with the possibility of extending it an additional 48 hours.

The announcement was reportedly made with the consent of Hamas, the Jerusalem Post reported. Israel’s Channel 2, however, reported Tuesday afternoon that Hamas in Gaza was against the proposed unilateral ceasefire.

The announcement came hours after a delegation of representatives of Palestinian factions, including the PA. Hamas and Islamic Jihad, arrived in Cairo to discuss a cease-fire.

Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev told the Associated Press in the wake of Rabbo’s announcement that until Israel hears from Hamas directly about the cease-fire offer, “it’s not serious.”

Israel has observed at least two-humanitarian cease-fires and observed what was to be a 24-hour extension of a cease-fire over the weekend until rockets from Gaza continued to be shot at Israel, causing the Israeli military to resume attacks.