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From Washington, this is VOA news. An Israeli soldier earlier thought missing now confirmed dead. Ebola patient now in the U.S. for treatment. I'm Vincent Bruce reporting from Washington.
The Israeli army says it has determined the 23-year-old soldier it earlier said was captured by Hamas on Friday was killed in action. An army spokesman says its chief rabbi determined Second Lieutenant Hadar Goldin is dead and personally delivered the news to his family. The army initially said Hamas fighters abducted Goldin when a suicide bomber attacked Israeli soldiers dismantling a tunnel near Rafa Friday. That attack left two other Israeli soldiers dead and ended a cease-fire after a little more than one hour. Earlier in the day, Saturday evening, in a televised address, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israeli troops will finish the job of destroying Hamas tunnels under the Gaza-Israeli border and continue to operate in accordance with Israel's security needs. Mr. Netanyahu called on the international community for its support. "I call on all responsible international leaders, and decent people everywhere, to stand with Israel now. Stand with Israel as it confronts Hamas. Stand with Israel as it defends itself against Hamas' deliberate and indiscriminate attacks on our civilians." Meanwhile, Israeli forces continued to strike targets in southern Gaza Saturday a day after the collapse of a short-lived cease-fire agreement. Palestinian officials said some 50 Palestinians were killed. VOA's Scott Bobb reports from Gaza. The Israeli military struck targets across Gaza, including the Islamic University and an insurance company in Gaza City and dozens of homes near Rafa in southern Gaza. Israeli officials said their military offensive would continue until the network of tunnels and rocket launching sites in Gaza is eliminated. The Israeli military told residents of the northern neighborhood of Beit Lahia late Saturday that they could return home, indicating that Israel's ground operations there had ended. But residents were also warned to watch out for explosive devices planted there by their Hamas fighters that may still be in the area. Scott Bobb, VOA news, Gaza. A doctor who was stricken with the Ebola virus while helping victims in Liberia has returned to the United States, becoming the first known Ebola patient on U.S. soil. Dr. Kent Brantly was flown from Liberia to the southern U.S. state of Georgia on Saturday on a specially equipped chartered medical plane for treatment at Emory University in Atlanta. In Guinea's capital, Conakry, the head of the World Health Organization, Margaret Chan, announced Friday that the leaders of West Africa's Ebola-stricken nations gathered to finalize a $100 million emergency response to the health crisis. "They agree to focus special attention to the cross-border areas in where the three countries, you know, meet. The common borders is an area which account for 70 percent of the Ebola cases." Doctor Chan met with the presidents of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. U.S. President Barack Obama said Friday that the United States is closely following the situation in West Africa ahead of a summit next week in Washington for nearly 50 African leaders. Citing a need for more clarification by presidential candidate Abdullah Abdullah, Afghan officials say the auditing of votes from the country's runoff election has been suspended. Officials say the count is delayed because Abdullah has not yet agreed on how ballots will be determined to be valid or invalid. Analysts say Afghanistan's economy is being hurt by the political uncertainty and further delays in the election audit could seriously jeopardize Afghanistan's future. International investigators have recovered the remains of more victims at the Malaysia Airlines wreckage site in eastern Ukraine. Alexander Hug with the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe Mission in Ukraine says the team of 70 Dutch and Australian investigators [are working] completed their work for their second day of the 20-square-kilometer crash site on Saturday. He also told the French news agency, AFP, that the artillery hit about two kilometers away but his group is prepared for the possibility of being fired upon in that area. There is more on all of these stories at our website voanews.com 24 hours a day. I'm Vincent Bruce in the VOA news room reporting from Washington. That's the latest world news from VOA. |