surprise announcement of plans for 700 new settlements and refused to free a last batch of Palestinian prisoners after earlier releases. Abbas in turn sought Palestinian membership in 15 UN conventions and the peace drive eventually broke down.

Kerry has attempted to mediate during the current Israeli military offensive in Gaza and flew to Israel last week.

But he has failed to bring about a lasting truce in the 26-day confrontation that has claimed more than 1,700 lives.

Associated Press reporters Ian Deitch and Karin Laub have been speaking to Gazans in the embattled southern town of Rafah.

In the area around the southern town of Rafah, where Goldin purportedly had gone missing, the extent of destruction became apparent after two days of intense Israeli shelling that left dozens dead and moreclose,” Baroud said.

A special IDF committee has concluded that Lt. Hadar Goldin was killed in combat in Gaza on Friday. May his memory be a blessing.

The Israeli Defence Force has concluded that missing soldier Hadar Goldin, who was thought to have been captured by Hamas during a short-lived cease fire, was in fact killed in combat on Friday.

More from the Press Association

The Israeli military said Sunday that an Israeli soldier it previously believed had been captured by Hamas fighters in a Gaza ambush had in fact been killed in battle that day.

The soldier’s purported capture Friday had helped shatter an internationally brokered cease-fire, drawn global condemnation and triggered a military assault on the area of his disappearance in southern Gaza that left dozens of Palestinians dead and scores