GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — A temporary cease-fire declared by Israel is slowing violence in the Gaza war today. With Hamas rocket fire tapering off, and with Israel’s ground operation in Gaza winding down, the fighting appears to be easing.
But in Jerusalem, a man rammed the front end of a construction excavator into an Israeli bus in what police describe as a “terrorist attack.” Police say an officer in the area opened fire and killed the attacker. A pedestrian was also killed. Shortly after the excavator attack, Israeli media reported that a gunman on a motorcycle shot and seriously wounded an Israeli soldier. Police searched for the shooter in east Jerusalem.
Several cease-fires have broken down during the three and a-half-week war — including one on Friday, when an internationally-negotiated truce collapsed.
Officials say the war has killed more than 1,880 Palestinians and more than 60 Israelis.
Yesterday, an apparent Israeli strike killed 10 people at a U.N. school that had been converted into a shelter in the southern Gaza Strip.
France’s foreign minister said today that Israel’s right to security does not justify what he called the “killing of children and the massacre of civilians.”
Israel says it targeted three wanted militants on a motorcycle in the vicinity.
%@AP Links
123-a-15-(Nadim Shehadi (nah-DEEM’ sheh-HAH’-dee), associate fellow, Middle East and North Africa Program, Royal Institute for International Affairs, also known as Chatham House, in AP interview)-“stage or another”-Nadim Shehadi of London’s Royal Institute for International Affairs says neither side in the conflict has won enough from the other to declare a victory and back away from military action. (4 Aug 2014)
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112-c-15-(Peter Enav (AY’-nahv), AP correspondent)-“last 24 hours”-AP correspondent Peter Enav reports that Israel continues drawing down its ground campaign — in some places. (4 Aug 2014)
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APPHOTO XAH119: A Palestinian walks on the rubble of his family apartment in a building which was destroyed after it was hit by an Israeli strikes in Beit Lahiya, the northern Gaza Strip, Monday, Aug. 4, 2014. (AP Photo/Adel Hana) (4 Aug 2014)
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