U.S. STUDENT MISSING
Israeli police said Tuesday they are searching for a U.S. religious student who disappeared while on a hike in a forest outside Jerusalem. Aharon Sofer, 23, of Lakewood, N.J., was last seen Friday, said police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld. He said the police were pursuing all avenues in their investigation, including the possibility that Sofer may have fallen victim to an attack by Palestinian militants. U.S. Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., said he has written to U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry asking for aid in the search for Sofer, an ultra-Orthodox student at a religious school.
— Associated Press
Israel and Gaza’s ruling Hamas faction agreed Tuesday to an open-ended cease-fire after seven weeks of fighting — an uneasy deal that halts the deadliest war the sides have fought in years but puts off the most difficult issues.
In the end, both sides settled for an ambiguous interim agreement in exchange for a period of calm. The stridently anti-Israel Hamas, though badly battered, remains in control of Gaza with part of its military arsenal intact. Israel and Egypt will continue to control access to the blockaded territory, despite Hamas’ long-running demand that border closures imposed in 2007 be lifted.
Hamas declared victory, even though it had little to show for a war that killed 2,143 Palestinians, wounded more than 11,000 and left some 100,000 homeless. On the Israeli side, casualties were much lighter — thanks largely to the effectivess of an anti-missile system — with 64 soldiers and six civilians killed, including two by Palestinian mortar fire shortly before the cease-fire was announced.
Large crowds gathered in Gaza City after the truce took effect at dusk, some waving the green flags of Hamas, while celebratory gunfire and fireworks erupted across the territory.
Mahmoud Zahar, a senior Hamas leader, promised to rebuild homes destroyed in the war and said Hamas would rearm. “We will build and upgrade our arsenal to be ready for the coming battle, the battle of full liberation,” he declared, surrounded by Hamas gunmen.
The Israeli response was more subdued.
“This time we hope the cease-fire will stick,” said Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev. He portrayed the deal as one Hamas had rejected in previous rounds of negotiations.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faced some criticism from hard-line critics and residents of Israeli communities near Gaza who said the deal failed to defuse the threat. Since July 8, Hamas and its allies have fired some 4,000 rockets and mortars at Israel, and tens of thousands of Israelis evacuated areas near Gaza in recent weeks.
Under the Egyptian-brokered deal, Israel is to ease restrictions on imports to Gaza, including aid and material for reconstruction. It also agreed to a largely symbolic gesture, expanding a fishing zone for Gaza fishermen to six nautical miles into the Mediterranean from three.
In a month, talks are to begin on more complex issues, including Hamas’ demand to start building a seaport and airport in Gaza. Israel has said it would only agree if Hamas disarms, a demand the group has rejected.
In Washington, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the agreement offers “an opportunity, not a certainty.”
“Today’s agreement comes after many hours and days of negotiations and discussions. But certainly there’s a long road ahead. … We’re going into this eyes wide open,” she said.
Early on in the war, U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry had tried in vain to broker a truce.
The cease-fire went into effect at 7 p.m. local time, and violence persisted until the last minute.
About an hour before the cease-fire, 12 mortar shells hit an Israeli communal farm near Gaza, killing two Israelis and wounding seven other people, two of them critically, the Israeli military said.
In Gaza, an Israeli airstrike minutes before the start of the cease-fire toppled a five-story building in the town of Beit Lahiya, witnesses said. Twelve Palestinians, including two children, were killed, Gaza police said.
Throughout the war, Israel launched some 5,000 airstrikes against Gaza, saying it targeted sites linked to militants, including rocket launchers and weapons depots. U.N. and Israeli officials have sharply disagreed about how many of the casualties were civilians.
In recent days, Israel had stepped up its pressure on Hamas, toppling five towers containing offices, apartments and shops since Saturday. Two of those buildings were brought down in airstrikes early Tuesday that destroyed dozens of apartments and shops.
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Despite its victory celebrations Tuesday, Hamas failed to force an end to the Gaza blockade. Under the restrictions, virtually all of Gaza’s 1.8 million people cannot trade or travel. Only a few thousand are able to leave the coastal territory every month.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, a long-time rival of Hamas, will likely play a key role in any new border deal for Gaza. Forces loyal to Abbas, a comparative moderate who lost Gaza to Hamas in 2007, would be posted at Gaza’s crossings to allay fears by Israel and Egypt about renewed attempts to smuggle weapons into the territory.
Aides have said Abbas plans to ask the U.N. Security Council to demand Israel’s withdrawal from all lands captured in the 1967 Mideast war to make way for an independent Palestinian state.
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