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                       Israel and Hamas Continue Fighting

   by VOA News

   Israel reportedly said on Saturday it would not attend Egyptian-hosted
   negotiations for a new truce in Gaza.

   Fighting between Israel's military and Hamas continued Saturday along
   the Gaza Strip, and Palestinian health officials said at least three
   Palestinians are dead.

   The fighting which resumed Friday after a three-day pause in the
   month-long war dealt a blow to Egyptian-led efforts to secure a
   long-term cease-fire between the bitter enemies.

   ''

   ''Israel pounded Gaza with a series of airstrikes Friday shortly after
   Hamas resumed rocket attacks against Israel when talks in Cairo broke
   down on extending the truce.

   The Israeli military charged that Hamas fighters in the Gaza Strip
   violated the 72-hour cease-fire hours before it was scheduled to expire
   on Friday morning.

   An Israeli government spokesman said Hamas fighters have been
   indiscriminately targeting civilians.

   Sixty-four Israeli soldiers and three civilians have been killed in the
   fighting.  Most of the Israeli casualties occurred during a ground
   invasion by Israeli troops to destroy Hamas' cross-border tunnels.

   More than 1,900 Palestinians, most of them civilians, have been killed.

   Hamas says it will not stop fighting until Israel lifts its seven-year
   blockade of Gaza. Israel says it will end the blockade only after Gaza
   is de-militarized, a condition Hamas rejects.

   The Israeli blockade of Gaza has choked the Gazan economy and kept
   Palestinians from traveling.

   U.S. President Barack Obama says Gaza cannot sustain itself and is not
   capable of providing jobs and economic growth.  He says the territory
   cannot remain permanently closed off from the world.

   Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said Israeli action in
   Gaza is justified.  He called every civilian casualty a tragedy, but
   one of Hamas' own making, saying the militant group fires weapons and
   puts fighters among the civilian population.
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   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/israel-and-hamas-continue-fighting/24
   08067.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/israel-and-hamas-continue-fighting/2408067.html