Negotiators scramble to save truce as Israel continues Gaza killings
Israel killed three more people near a Gaza cease-fire line on Monday, according to medics, as U.S. envoys prepared to arrive in Israel to help shore up a fragile truce that faced a major test over the weekend. A Palestinian official close to cease-fire talks said efforts by Arab mediators and the United States would be stepped up Monday, after hel
ping restore calm in the enclave following a day of intense bombardment that killed at least 28 people. Israel said it launched the strikes across the enclave Sunday in response to an alleged Palestinian attack that killed two soldiers, who were operating within the agreed deployment line in southern Gaza's Rafah, in what it described as a blatant violation by Hamas of the truce. Despite repeated bursts of violence in the week since the truce was agreed, the U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner are expected to urge the start of the second phase of the cease-fire plan. U.S. Vice President JD Vance was also due to visit Israel on Tuesday, Israel's airport authority said. Monday's incident, in the Gaza City suburb of Tuffah, was the latest along the "yellow line" demarcating Israel's military pullback inside Gaza from the main populated areas, stoking new fears among Gaza residents. Local health authorities said Israeli tank fire had killed three people. The Israeli military said forces had fired at militants who crossed the yellow line to remove the threat. Witnesses later reported Israeli tank shelling in the central Gaza Strip east of Deir al-Balah. Gaza City residents said they were confused about where the line runs, with electronic maps available but physical markings yet to be established along most of the route. "The whole area is in ruins. We saw the maps, but we can't tell where those lines are," said Samir, 50, who lives in Tuffah. Israel's military published Monday a video showing bulldozers towing yellow blocks into place to mark out the line.
