Israel now controls Gaza's entire land border

BEIJING, May 30 (AP/BBC):Israel's military has said it has taken control of the strategically important buffer zone along the Gaza-Egypt border known as the Philadelphi Corridor, meaning it now controls Gaza's entire land border.
A spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said about 20 tunnels used by Hamas to smuggle weapons into Gaza had been found within the zone.
Egyptian TV quoted sources denying this, and said Israel was trying to justify its military operation in the southern Gaza city of Rafah. The IDF has continued its offensive in Rafah and elsewhere in Gaza, saying air strikes hit over 50 "terror targets" over the past day.
Three Israeli soldiers were killed and three others seriously injured on Wednesday in a booby-trapped building in Rafah, the IDF said. Two other soldiers were killed in a car-ramming attack near the city of Nablus in the occupied West Bank, it said. Security forces are searching for the driver.
IDF spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said on Wednesday that forces had "established operational control" of the Philadelphi Corridor. He described the area as a "lifeline" for Hamas, through which the group "regularly smuggled weapons into the Gaza Strip".
He said troops were "investigating.. and neutralising" tunnels found in the area. Mr Hagari later said in a briefing with reporters that he could not be sure that all of the tunnels crossed into Egypt, the New York Times reported.
Xi reiterates calls for
of independent
Palestinian state
Chinese President Xi Jinping reiterated calls for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state and promised more humanitarian aid for people in Gaza as he opened a summit with leaders of Arab states Thursday in Beijing.
"Since last October, the Palestinian-Israeli conflict has escalated drastically, throwing people into tremendous suffering," Xi said in a speech opening the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum. "War should not continue indefinitely."
He restated China's backing of a two-state solution and pledged 500 million yuan ($69 million) in humanitarian aid for Gaza. He also promised to donate $3 million to a United Nations agency that provides assistance and relief to refugees of the Israel-Hamas war.
Beijing and the Arab states back Palestinians in the conflict, where Israel is facing growing international condemnation after its strike in the southern Gaza city of Rafah in which at least 45 people were killed over the weekend.