Gaza fighting suspended to allow convoys in flashpoint areas

GAZA CITY, July 23 (AFP): Fighting between Israeli troops and Hamas militants was briefly suspended in several flashpoint areas of Gaza Wednesday to allow convoys of ambulances to retrieve the wounded, an ICRC spokeswoman said.
"A convoy of seven ambulances and two Red Cross cars went inside Shejaiya to evacuate the wounded," ICRC spokeswoman Cecilia Goin told AFP, saying the move had been coordinated with both Israel and Hamas.
A second convoy of nine ambulances and two Red Cross vehicles went into Khuzaa near the southern city of Khan Yunis, an area which also came under very heavy Israeli fire overnight, she said.
A third team went into the northern town of Beit Hanun, the agency said.
"We have coordinated with both Hamas and the Israelis to be able to take out the wounded," Goin told AFP, indicating both sides had agreed to hold their fire, although it was not immediately clear for how long.
There was no immediate comment from the Israelis and an AFP correspondent in Khuzaa said the shooting appeared to be ongoing.
Since the early morning, there have been major clashes between Israeli troops and Palestinian militants in Khuzaa, which lies on the Israeli border, some six kilometres (four miles) southeast of Khan Yunis.
Of the 27 Palestinians killed in fighting on Wednesday, most of the victims were in Khuzaa, medics say, although no exact number was quoted.
A similar bombardment began early Sunday in Shejaiya, a densely-populated district between Gaza City and the border, which medics say killed at least 75 people, with an AFP correspondent reporting scenes of mass destruction and bodies lying on the ground.
Meanwhile, the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) confirmed Tuesday that a soldier had gone missing in action during its two-week air, naval and ground offensive in Gaza, Efe news agency reported from Jerusalem.
The soldier, who has not been identified, went missing early Sunday after an anti-tank rocket hit an Israeli armoured vehicle, killing seven other troops, media reported.
The Al Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of the Palestinian Islamic movement Hamas, which rules Gaza, had Sunday announced the capture of an Israeli soldier.
The abduction took place after Israeli ground troops last week entered Gaza, following days of heavy air and naval artillery bombardments on the Palestinian enclave within Operation Protective Edge.
At least 29 Israelis have died during the offensive, 27 of them troopers who perished in the fighting and two civilians killed by rockets fired from Gaza on Israel.
Another report from Geneva adds: Israel's military actions in the Gaza Strip could amount to war crimes, UN rights chief Navi Pillay said Wednesday while also condemning indiscriminate rocket attacks by Palestinian militants Hamas.
"There seems to be a strong possibility that international law has been violated, in a manner that could amount to war crimes," Pillay told an emergency session on Israel's Gaza offensive at the UN Human Rights Council, citing attacks that have killed Palestinian civilians, including children.
She said Israeli children and other civilians also had a right to live without constant fear of rocket attacks.
"Once again, the principles of distinction and precaution are clearly not being observed during such indiscriminate attacks on civilian areas by Hamas and other armed Palestinian groups," she said.
Meanwhile, Washington's top diplomat flew into Tel Aviv Wednesday, defying a US flight ban, to try to broker an end to violence in Gaza, which has killed hundreds and hobbled Israel's main airport.
Secretary of State John Kerry jetted in from Cairo to Ben Gurion airport, with reporters banned from reporting the trip until his custom Boeing 757 touched down.