Israel violates ceasefire agreement kills dozens of Palestinians

Palestinian officials say at least 50 Palestinians were killed and some 200 more injured after Israeli tanks struck a major shopping center and residential areas in southern Gaza on Friday.

Israeli media reports say Tel Aviv has informed the United Nations that the ceasefire in the impoverished Palestinian region is over.

The Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has accused Palestinian resistance groups of violating the truce. However, Hamas and other resistance groups have rejected the allegation, saying Israeli attacks on Rafah provoked retaliatory fire from Palestinian fighters.

Sources say the 72-hour humanitarian lull was meant to allow Palestinians to bury their dead and treat the wounded.

This is while the Israeli military has confirmed that one of its soldiers was captured by Palestinian resistance fighters in the Gaza Strip.

The military wing of Hamas, the Qassam Brigades, has confirmed that it had captured an Israeli soldier. Palestinian fighters also say they have killed 15 more Israeli soldiers in the south of Gaza.

Also on Friday, the Israeli military confirmed that five of its soldiers died in a mortar strike near the impoverished territory.

Israeli military says it has so far lost nearly 61 of its troops in clashes with Palestinian resistance fighters, but Hamas says over 146 Israeli soldiers have been killed over the past 24 days. This is seen as the heaviest loss of life for the Israeli military in years.

The death toll from the ongoing Israeli aerial and ground attacks in the war-stricken Gaza Strip is on the rise. About 1,500 Palestinians have been killed and over 8,000 injured following 25 days of Israeli aerial and ground assaults on the Gaza Strip.

JR/AB/SS