'Vicinity' of U.N. school in Gaza struck by shelling, officials say

At least 10 people were killed and several others wounded Sunday in the attack, the spokesman for the Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza said.

Dr. Ashraf el-Qedra said the U.N. facility used as a shelter for the displaced in Rafah was targeted.

Chris Gunness, spokesman for the U.N. Relief and Works Agency, tweeted that the school was sheltering almost 3,000 internally displaced people.

"I can confirm a shelling incident has caused multiple deaths and injuries in the vicinity of a school," Gunness told CNN's New Day on Sunday morning. "I am not saying it was a direct hit, and we are not confirming who it's by yet. We hope to have more details later."

The IDF has not yet commented on the reported attack. And it was unclear if the school was targeted, directly impacted or if shells fell nearby.

But at least one other U.N.-run school in Gaza has been pounded by violence in the past week.

Last Wednesday, another school-turned-shelter in Gaza was struck. Sanaa Abugerad was among some 3,000 Palestinians at that shelter when it was hit by artillery.

"We saw the shells when they hit, and shrapnel was falling like rain," she said. "I was so scared and the school filled with smoke. We poured water in our eyes just to see."

The Palestinian Health Ministry said 20 people were killed in that attack. The United Nations blamed Israel for that attack, with Gunness saying an initial assessment indicates Israeli artillery hit the school.

But Israel said a group of militants fired at Israeli soldiers from the vicinity, and the soldiers "responded by firing at the origin of the fire."

And the deaths continue to mount. At least 1,756 people have been killed in Gaza since the current Israel-Hamas conflict began July 8, according to el-Qedra. In Israel, 64 soldiers and three civilians have been killed.

Palestinian officials warned of a public health disaster because of the lack of water, sanitation and primary health care.

Israel's story on soldier changes

An Israeli soldier was not captured and killed as initially believed, but died in an attack by a suicide bomber, the military said Sunday.

Israel had initially accused Hamas militants of capturing Lt. Hadar Goldin on Friday as a temporary cease-fire to the conflict in Gaza rapidly unraveled.

Lt. Col. Peter Lerner, spokesman for Israel Defense Forces, said later Sunday that Goldin was not captured and killed, but died in a suicide bombing along with two other Israeli soldiers. The IDF said militants in Gaza carried out the suicide attack.

Some of Goldin's remains were found in and around the Gaza tunnel where the attack took place, Lerner said. He did not provide any more details on the purported suicide bombing.

Goldin, 23, was promoted to lieutenant posthumously.

Speculation about his fate varied wildly after the armed wing of Hamas, the al Qassam Brigades, announced it had lost contact with a group of its fighters in the Rafah area -- the same area where Goldin was reportedly taken.

In a statement posted on its website, the militant group said it assumed all the fighters died in an Israeli airstrike, including possibly an Israeli soldier. The group -- which denied having information on Goldin -- stopped short of saying the soldier was captured but said it was "assuming he was captured by the fighters."

Whatever happened, the entire ordeal has only served to heighten the hostilities -- with Israel claiming it must attack Gaza to prevent the onslaught of rocket attacks on its territory, while Hamas and other Palestinians assert Israel is the aggressor and directly responsible for hundreds of civilian deaths.

No rest on both sides

And the bloodshed shows no signs of letting up.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed Saturday to "continue to act in full scale" against Hamas until all militant tunnels are destroyed.

He told reporters in Tel Aviv that Israeli troops have "managed to hurt severely" the capability of Hamas during the Gaza operation. But they're not done.

"In the beginning of the operation we promised to bring back calm and order (to Israel), and we will continue to operate until this goal is reached no matter how much time or force it takes," Netanyahu said.

The Prime Minister said that after the tunnels are destroyed, Israeli forces will "regroup," depending on their security needs.

But Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal told CNN's Nic Robertson that Israel thwarted the temporary peace by staying in Gaza and destroying tunnels there.

"A truce is a truce, but the presence of the Israeli forces inside Gaza and destroying the tunnels means it's an aggression," he said in an exclusive interview from Doha, Qatar.

"The Palestinian resistance has the right to self-defense and the right to deal with the invading Israeli forces who are inside our Gaza territories."

Talking about the Israelis, Meshaal said, "What were they doing during the truce? They were destroying tens of houses, justifying their actions that they were looking for tunnels. What kind of cease-fire is this, it has no meaning this way."

Peace efforts out of Cairo

As the conflict continued, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi touted a cease-fire initiative as a "real chance" to stop the bloodshed and the best way to get help into Gaza and launch talks.

An Egyptian proposal put forward last month was accepted by Israel but rejected by Hamas.

An official Palestinian delegation arrived in Cairo on Saturday to attend the negotiations, the Egyptian state-run news agency MENA reported.

The delegation included a representative of Fatah and Palestinian intelligence, with Hamas and Islamic Jihad representatives set to arrive later, the report said.

Israel will not send a delegation to Cairo, according to media reports.