Israeli troops shot dead a Palestinian man and wounded nine along Gaza’s border fence with Israel today.
It was the first reported violence since a truce between Israel and Gaza’s Hamas rulers came into force on Wednesday after eight days of cross-border fighting.
The shooting appeared to be an isolated incident and was unlikely to jeopardise the Egyptian-brokered ceasefire. Gaza’s prime minister, Ismail Haniyeh, urged militants to respect the ceasefire.
The man killed was part of a group which approached Israel’s border fence to pick up parts of an army jeep damaged in the fighting, said Gaza health official Adnan Abu Salmia. Israel’s military said there have been isolated attempts to infiltrate Israel from Gaza, and that warning shots were fired in the air when the group approached. In Cairo, Egypt was set to hold separate talks today with Israeli and Hamas envoys on the next phase of the ceasefire — a new border deal for blockaded Gaza. Hamas demands a lifting of all restrictions, while Israel insists that Hamas must halt weapons smuggling.
In Israel, a poll showed that about half of Israelis think their government should have continued its military offensive against Hamas. Thirty-one per cent supported the government’s decision to stop and 20 per cent had no opinion.
A Palestinian envoy, Bassam al-Salhi, claims that China has expressed support in their conflict with Israel and for a bid to upgrade their status at the United Nations, and was giving $1 million in aid.
