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Jacob Zuma

Gaza City — Dozens of Palestinian families trapped by clashes between Hamas militants and Israeli troops are scrambling to flee a southern Gaza Strip neighbourhood as Israel reported that two more of its soldiers have died in the conflict.The Palestinian Red Crescent says it’s trying to evacuate about 250 people from near Khan Younis, which has been under Israeli tank shelling and drones strikes since early yesterday.

As the fighting near Khan Younis rages, the military says two more soldiers have been killed, raising the military’s death toll to 29.

The circumstances of the latest military casualties were not immediately clear. Two Israeli civilians have also died in the 15-day conflict.

The fighting has killed at least 630 Palestinians.

Meanwhile, President Jacob Zuma is to send a special team to Israel and Palestine as fighting in the Gaza strip intensifies, International Relations Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane said on Tuesday.

“The restoration of lasting peace in the Middle East is in our interest,” Nkoana-Mashabane said while delivering her budget vote speech in Parliament.

“In this respect, President Zuma will be dispatching a team, led by our former deputy minister Aziz Pahad, to Israel and Palestine to convey our growing concern with the escalation of violence there, including the endless wanton killing of Palestinian civilians and the destruction of homes in Gaza.”

Zuma would invite Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to undertake a working visit to South Africa.

Nkoana-Mashabane’s comments come two days after Zuma called on both the Israeli Defence Force and Hamas militia to stop hostilities.

Zuma called on Israel to withdraw troops from the Gaza strip, while at the same time condemning Hamas’s firing of rockets into Israel.

He called on the two sides to agree on a ceasefire and resume talks aimed at finding a permanent solution to their conflict.

Tuesday marked the 15th day of the deadliest violence in the enclave in five years.

News agency Agence France-Presse reported that close to 600 people had been killed so far. — Sapa