BEIT LAHIYA, Gaza Strip — An Israeli envoy engaging in Gaza cease- fire talks returned without a deal late Thursday, after another day of bloodshed in the coastal territory that included seven Palestinians being killed in a house explosion that Hamas blamed on an accident.
When an explosion flattened a house in the Gaza Strip and killed seven, Hamas blamed Israel and unleashed rockets and mortar shells at southern Israel. But the militant group, which has controlled Gaza the past year, later suggested the blast was accidental.
By then, Israel had carried out an airstrike aimed at a Gaza rocket squad, killing a Palestinian. Two other Israeli military operations in Gaza killed five more militants.
Clashes in and around Gaza are putting a strain on Egypt’s effort to arrange a truce. Cairo is acting as a go-between because Israel has no contacts with Hamas.
Israeli officials said envoy Amos Gilad told Egyptian mediators in Cairo that Israel wants progress toward freeing a soldier captured by Hamas two years ago as well as a commitment by Egypt to stop arms smuggling across its border with Gaza. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the contacts are supposed to be private, said no agreement was reached Thursday.
