GAZA CITY Israel continued to pummel Gaza strip with tank and aerial bombardment on Saturday, as troops searched for a soldier they believe was captured by Hamas in an ambush a day earlier.
As Gaza ceasefire crumbled only hours after it began on Friday, Israeli troops, backed by tank fire and airstrikes, pushed deep into southern Gaza, killing at least 140 Palestinians.
At least 40 Palestinians were killed in the bombardment and shelling in and around the city of Rafah early Saturday, said Palestinian health official Ashraf al-Kidra, who added that the area’s main hospital was evacuated because of the strikes, which killed 140 people on Friday.
Elsewhere in Gaza, Palestinian officials reported more than 150 airstrikes, including several against mosques and one against the University in Gaza City. The Israeli military said it attacked five mosques that concealed weapons, and that the University was being used as a research and weapons-manufacturing site for Hamas.
The fiercest battles took place near the site of Friday’s attack and purported abduction, near Rafah, about 3 kilometers inside the strip, and close to the borders with Israel and Egypt. Officials have reported that dozens of houses have been destroyed in airstrikes.
A spokesman for the Israeli military, said that government forces were moving to destroy a tunnel, as the terms of the cease-fire allowed for, when several militants came out of the ground.
He said the militants included at least one suicide attacker, that there was an exchange of fire on the ground and that initial indications were that a soldier was apparently dragged back into the tunnel.
Officials later said that two Israeli soldiers were killed in the gunfight following the soldier’s abduction.
Witnesses in Gaza said that Israel’s bombardment in Rafah began as residents were returning to examine their evacuated homes.
The heavy shelling in Rafah was part of operational and intelligence activity to locate the missing officer, 2nd Lt. Hadar Goldin, the Israeli military said.
Earlier Friday, Israel and Hamas accused each other of breaking the truce, which had been announced by the U.S. and the U.N., and took effect at 8 a.m.
The breakdown meant there would be no reprieve for the 1.7 million residents of Gaza, where large parts have been devastated by airstrikes and shelling, and at least 1,600 people mostly civilians have been killed and more than 8,000 wounded. Israel has lost 63 soldiers and three civilians.
The ceasefire was to be followed by Israeli-Palestinian negotiations in Cairo on a longer-term solution. Israel launched its offensive in Hamas dominated Gaza on July 8, unleashing air and naval bombardments in response to a surge of cross-border rocket attacks.
Tanks and infantry pushed into the territory of 1.8 million on July 17. Gaza officials say at least 1600 Palestinians, mostly civilians, have been killed and 7,000 wounded. Sixty-one Israeli soldiers have been killed and more than 400 hurt.
Hamas, isolated in an Arab world concerned about the rise of militancy, is seeking an end to years of blockade of Gaza imposed by Israel and Egypt.
Israel has balked at freeing up Gazas borders under any de-escalation deal unless Hamass disarmament is also guaranteed.
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