Summary 107 Palestinians killed and an Israeli soldier goes missing as violence sweep through Gaza strip.
GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories (AFP) - At least 107 Palestinians were killed and an Israeli soldier was missing presumed captured as a fresh wave of violence swept through the Gaza Strip Saturday following the failure of an agreed ceasefire.
The attacks continued throughout the night, leaving at least 35 Palestinians dead in the Gaza town of Rafah alone in a series of Israeli air raids in the hours since midnight (2100 GMT) Friday.
US President Barack Obama called for the missing soldier, 23-year-old Second Lieutenant Hadar Goldin to be "unconditionally" released, but also said more must be done to protect Gaza civilians.
Israeli Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, a member of the eight-strong security cabinet, accused Hamas of being behind the disappearance of the missing soldier and said the group would pay a high price.
However early Saturday the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas' armed wing, said it had no information on the whereabouts of the missing soldier.
"The Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades has no information on this soldier. We have lost contact with one of our combatant groups, which was fighting in the sector where the soldier went missing and it is possible that our fighters and this soldier were killed," the group said in a statement.
The intensive fighting on Friday and early Saturday, which ensued after a planned three-day ceasefire, collapsed after just hours.
The toll on the Palestinian side was 107 people dead and 350 others wounded, said Palestinian emergency services spokesman Acjraf al-Qodra
Fifteen of those victims, including five children aged 3-12, came from the same family whose house was destroyed, he added.
Some 1,650 Palestinians, the vast majority of them civilians, have been killed in the 26 days since the present conflict started, Qodra said. On the Israeli side, 63 soldiers and three civilians have died.
Shelling killed dozens of people in southern Gaza hours into the truce, which began at 8:00 am (0500 GMT) Friday and had been due to last 72 hours.
Hamas accused Israel of breaking the short-lived ceasefire, while the Jewish state said it was responding to rocket fire.
The chances of a durable truce seemed as remote as ever after the presumed capture of the Israeli soldier.
The military also announced that two soldiers had been killed in the same incident near the southern city of Rafah.
"Our initial indications suggest a soldier has been abducted," according to army spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Peter Lerner.
