Gaza truce efforts collapse in heavy fighting

Egyptian attempts to broker an end to a month-long war between Israel and Hamas collapsed in heavy fighting on Tuesday, with the Islamists firing dozens of rockets and Israel responding with air strikes across the Gaza Strip. At least three people were killed. The burst of violence, which erupted in the hours before a temporary truce was set to expire, left the Egyptian mediation efforts in tatters and raised the likelihood of a new round of fighting in a war that has already claimed more than 2,000 lives. The latest round of clashes broke out when Hamas militants fired several rockets to Israel from Gaza on Tuesday afternoon. Israel quickly withdrew its delegation from the Cairo cease-fire talks and resumed its campaign of air strikes, and fighting continued into the night. Three people – two women and a two-year-old girl – were killed in an air strike on a house in Gaza City, Palestinian medical official Ashraf al-Kidra said. Twenty-one people were injured in a separate air strike that hit a building that houses offices of Hamas’ Al Aqsa TV station, al-Kidra said. The fatalities were the first since a temporary truce was reached last Wednesday, according to AFP.