Reprieved by the US in the UN Security Council on Thursday, Israel yesterday pressed ahead with its Gaza air assault in a bid to retrieve a captured soldier and stop rocket attacks. Meanwhile, the pullback of some ground troops from Gaza was seen by Palestinians as the sign of a reduction in aggression. Also yesterday, Palestinians blew a hole in a wall on the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt, allowing 500 people who had been stranded owing to closures related to the assault to cross into the territory.Gunmen, believed to be from the armed wing of the governing Palestinian movement Hamas, blew a hole in the wall around 70 meters from the Rafah border terminal, allowing hundreds of travelers into Gaza, witnesses said. The border crossing, GazaÂ’s sole gateway to the world, has been closed since June 25, when an Israeli soldier was seized by Palestinians not too far away, sparking the worst Israeli-Palestinian crisis in months.
IsraelÂ’s Air Force carried out at least two overnight raids on Gaza, while artillery pounded the north and south of the Palestinian territory throughout the day as part of a campaign to secure the release of Cpl. Gilad Shalit. One raid struck the house of a Hamas MP, whose administration has been directly targeted in the offensive, in Beit Lahiya in north Gaza, and a bridge in the central part of the territory.