Two Israeli soldiers killed in Hamas operation

Two Israeli soldiers have been killed in a gunfight with Palestinian militants, believed to be from the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, who breached the border with Israel on Saturday afternnoon.

Originally, it was reported that the two had been wounded, along with two other soldiers who were injured, but it has now been confirmed that they were killed. 

According to Haaretz "the killed soldiers are Sergeant Adar Bersano, 20 from Nahariya, and Major Amotz Greenberg (res.), 45 from Hod HaSharon."

Haaretz are reporting that "a cell of four or five militants breached the Israeli border from the center of the Gaza Strip, near the Israeli community of Kissufim, and fired machine guns and an anti-tank missile at an Israel Defense Forces unit.

The IDF returned fire, killing one of the militants, and started in pursuit of the rest of the Palestinian cell. According to a senior IDF officer, the pursuit took place inside Israeli territory.

An Israeli aircraft then struck several other militants who were involved in the incident and who evidently managed to return to Gaza."

Hamas's military wing, the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, said its fighters had carried out the raid.

"The Qassam Brigades carried out an operation behind enemy lines," it said in a statement. "Heavy fighting is ongoing with the forces of the occupation."

Palestinian death toll reaches 337

Israeli air strikes pounded Gaza Saturday, taking the death toll from a 12-day bombardment to 337, as UN chief Ban Ki-moon headed to the region to join truce efforts.

His peace push came as Israel was poised to intensify a ground operation inside the besieged Palestinian territory it says is necessary to stop militants tunnelling into the Israel.

Despite the pounding, Hamas fighters succeeded in infiltrating Israel, sparking a deadly skirmish with an army patrol, as Gaza's bloodiest conflict since 2009 showed no signs of letting up.

The United States urged its Israeli ally to do more to limit the high civilian death toll from the operation, while supporting the country's right to defend itself.

President Barack Obama said Washington was "deeply concerned about the risks of further escalation and the loss of more innocent life".

He added that Washington was "hopeful" that Israel would operate "in a way that minimises civilian casualties".

But Israeli army chief Lieutenant General Benny Gantz, said the army was "expanding the ground phase of the operation".

"There will be moments of hardship," he warned in a briefing to the military, anticipating further Israeli casualties.

Senior Hamas leader Musa Abu Marzouk called for Israel to accept its conditions for a ceasefire, including the release of all prisoners previously released in the Gilad Shalit deal.

"The cease-fire depends on adherence to Hamas' conditions. We don't want to return to the pre-operation situation," Abu Marzouk told Haaretz.

Three Israeli civilians have been killed so far.

An Israeli Bedouin was killed Friday and four of his family wounded - including two young children - when a rocket hit their desert campsite near Israel's Dimona nuclear reactor, police said.

Another civilian died Tuesday when a mortar round exploded in Israel and a soldier was killed by friendly fire inside Gaza on Friday.

Resources are running scarce in Gaza, with around 90% of the Strip thought to be in darkness due to power cuts and food running low, not helped by packages of expired food sent by Egypt last week.

The Gaza health ministry warned Saturday of a "real disaster" in the Strip due to shortages in medical supplies.

"The medical supply stock will run out in a few days," Ashraf Abu Mahadi, the Health Ministry's top pharmacist, told Anadolu Agency.

Egyptian “solidarity convoy”

A group of Egyptian activists organising a solidarity convoy were blocked by troops at Egypt's north-eastern Sinai Peninsula while attempting to cross into the Gaza Strip, which has continued to reel under an Israeli military operation for 13 days.

An army officer at the Balloza checkpoint, one of many along the desert highway to Rafah, told an AFP correspondent that the security situation in the restive peninsula was too unstable to allow the convoy of 11 buses and 500 activists to pass.

There was a brief scuffle between some activists and soldiers but no arrests were made.

The activists left Cairo at dawn Saturday, carrying quantities of medical aid bought with donations, with the aim of reaching the Gaza Strip through the Rafah border crossing, according to activist Zizo Abdou.

"The convoy is composed of youth who wish to show support for the Palestinian cause," Abdou said.

The group includes members of mostly left-leaning political movements and parties including the Revolutionary Socialists, the Third Way and the Popular Current.

The centrist Strong Egypt Party also announced in a statement that it is participating in the convoy.

Global protests

Protests against the assault have taken place all around the world, in Washington, Cairo, Madrid, Cape Town and others.

On Saturday a protest alleged by some to be more than 10,000-strong was staged outside the Prime Minister’s residence in Downing Street in London, before heading off to the Israeli embassy in west London.

A protest in Istanbul in Turkey on Thursday turned ugly, as demonstrators attempted to storm the Israeli embassy.

There have also been protests in Israel, both in favour of and against the action in Gaza

One group protesting in a junction near Ma'alot in northern Israel hoisted Palestinian flags, and chanted slogans calling Israeli soldiers war criminals.

A counter-demonstration was staged opposite by people hoisting Israeli flags, and singing the Israeli anthem.

Donkey bomb

The Israeli army has said that militants strapped explosives on to a donkey in an attempt to attack troops.

"Yesterday (Friday) evening, there was at least one such attempt, in which a donkey suspiciously began to approach forces," it said.

"The forces engaged the donkey and it exploded at a safe distance."