Mediators step up diplomacy after Gaza truce shakes
US Vice President JD Vance is also scheduled to visit Israel on Tuesday.
By Nidal al-Mughrabi and Steven Scheer
CAIRO/JERUSALEM (Reuters) Israeli gunfire killed three people near a ceasefire line in Gaza on Monday, according to medics, and U.S. envoys are expected in Israel to try to move forward the fragile truce that faced its most serious test yet over the weekend.
A Palestinian official close to the ceasefire negotiations said that efforts by Arab and U.S. mediators would be intensified on Monday, after helping to restore calm to the enclave following a day of intense shelling that killed at least 28 people.
Israel said it launched the attacks across the enclave on Sunday in response to a Palestinian attack that killed two soldiers operating within the agreed deployment line in Rafah, southern Gaza, in what it described as a flagrant violation of the truce by Hamas.
Despite repeated outbreaks of violence in the week since the truce was agreed, US envoys Steve Witkoff and President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner are expected to insist on the start of the second phase of the ceasefire plan.
US Vice President JD Vance is also scheduled to visit Israel on Tuesday, the Israeli airport authority said.
Monday's incident in the Gaza City suburb of Tuffah was the latest along the "yellow line" marking Israel's military withdrawal from key populated areas within Gaza, fueling renewed fears among Gaza residents.
According to local health authorities, Israeli tank fire killed three people. The Israeli military said forces fired on militants who crossed the yellow line to eliminate the threat.
Later, witnesses reported Israeli tank bombardments in the central Gaza Strip, east of Deir al-Balah.
Residents of Gaza City said they were confused about where the line runs, with electronic maps available but physical markings not yet established along most of the route.
"The whole area is in ruins. We've seen the maps, but we can't tell where those lines are," said Samir, 50, who lives in Tuffah.
The Israeli Armed Forces released a video on Monday showing bulldozers towing yellow blocks to mark the line.
Both Israel and Hamas said they remain committed to the ceasefire after it was broken on Sunday.
