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Golfer seeks 'professional help'
8/1/2014 1:10:33 PM
- Dustin Johnson announces he will take break from golf
- Johnson will miss the U.S. PGA and Ryder Cup tournaments
- World No. 16 says he needs he will seek "professional help" to improve "mental health"
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(CNN) -- American golfer Dustin Johnson has announced he is to take a break from the sport and will seek "professional help" to improve his mental health.
The world No. 16 pulled out of the WBC-Bridgestone Invitational due to personal reasons earlier this week and will now not contest next week's U.S. PGA Championship at Valhalla or the Ryder Cup at Gleneagles, Scotland, in September.
A statement from Johnson's management company read: "I am taking a leave of absence from professional golf, effective immediately. I will use this time to seek professional help for personal challenges I have faced.
"By committing the time and resources necessary to improve my mental health, physical well-being and emotional foundation, I am confident that I will be better equipped to fulfill my potential and become a consistent champion."
The 30-year-old has won eight titles on the PGA Tour and is highly regarded by fans and fellow professionals for his big hitting game.
He is currently ranked fifth in the standings of U.S. golfers, meaning he would almost certainly have been an automatic pick for the Ryder Cup.
Johnson was also the only player in the American team to remain undefeated when Europe retained the trophy after a dramatic final day comeback at Medinah in 2012.
Reacting to the announcement Friday, U.S. Ryder Cup captain Tom Watson told the PGA website: "We will certainly miss Dustin Johnson at Gleneagles, and we wish him the best.
"As one of the longest hitters in the game with an undefeated record of 3-0 at Medinah in 2012, he has clearly been an asset for the United States team. That said, the United States is a team with an abundance of talent."
Tiger Woods added to his captain's words. "I'll tell you what, with his power, you always want guys with that kind of power to play on any team. I've been his partner in the Presidents Cup in Australia, and the fire power that he has, it's pretty cool to be around," said the 14-time major winner.
"It's not too often you see a guy carry the ball 320 (yards) without even trying, and then when he steps on it he can hit it even further. When he gets it going, it's awfully impressive."
Former U.S. Open champion and European Ryder Cup opponent Justin Rose also passed on his regards to his friend and colleague.
"I just wish him well, whatever he's facing right now," Rose said in quotes carried by UK news agency, the Press Association.
"(It) can't be easy for him. I wish him all the best. He's a friend of mine (but I) didn't really know that that was on the cards."
Johnson recently finished 12th in the British Open after heading out in the final pairing with eventual winner Rory McIlroy.
He rounded off his statement by requesting privacy in the months ahead as he begins his time off.
"I respectfully ask my fans, well-wishers and the media for privacy as I embark upon this mission of self-improvement," he said.
Read: Master McIlroy fulfills destiny
Read: On Tiger's tail
Football: Ebola hits African qualifier
8/1/2014 12:19:45 PM
- Sierra Leone football players prevented from entering Seychelles over Ebola fears
- Seychelles forfeits African Cup of Nations qualifier as a result
- Ebola has claimed at least 224 lives in Sierra Leone in recent months
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(CNN) -- Concern over the spread of the Ebola virus has caused the cancellation of an African Cup of Nations football match.
The Seychelles was due to host Sierra Leone in a qualifying game on Saturday, but the tiny island nation's ministries of health and immigration prevented the visiting players from entering the country.
At least 525 cases of Ebola have been reported in Sierra Leone since March, 224 of which have been fatal.
Seychelles, which was trailing 2-0 after losing the away leg of the second-round qualifier in Sierra Leone on July 19, has forfeited both the tie and its hopes of reaching next year's tournament finals.
Sierra Leone players were on Friday reportedly prevented from boarding a plane at Kenya's Nairobi Airport that would have taken them to the Seychelles.
Seychelles Football Federation president Elvis Chetty told CNN that there was little choice but to follow government advice and forfeit the match, which was to be held in the capital Victoria.
"After being advised by the ministry of health to postpone the match for an indefinite period, the ministry of immigration informed us it would not allow the team from Sierra Leone to enter the Seychelles," Chetty said.
"Subsequently, the SFF felt it was prudent to forfeit the scheduled match as opposed to asking for a postponement.
"We respect the decisions taken by the authorities to safeguard the health interests of our country.
"Our thoughts are with the Sierra Leone people in their hour of need."
There have been more than 1,300 confirmed or suspected Ebola cases in West Africa since March, when cases of the virus were first reported in Guinea.
Other countries to be badly affected include Nigeria and Liberia.
Sierra Leone president Ernest Bai Koroma has declared a public health emergency in his country in an attempt to stem the spread of the virus.
One of the country's athletes at the Commonwealth Games in Scotland was taken to hospital last week to be tested for Ebola after feeling unwell.
However, cyclist Moses Sesay was cleared and was able to compete in Thursday's men's individual time trial.
Ebola is a viral hemorrhagic fever, affecting multiple organs and accompanied by bleeding. There is no known cure or specific treatments.
The World Health Organization has said that drastic action is needed to contain what has fast become the worst outbreak on record.
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Tennis: Li Na pulls out of U.S. Open
7/31/2014 9:13:45 AM
- Li Na announces she won't be competing at Flushing Meadows
- Chinese star's medical team says 32-year-old needs time to rest her knee
- Li was a semifinalist at U.S. Open in 2013 and is Australian Open champion
- Injured men's No. 2 Rafael Nadal may miss his title defense in New York
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(CNN) -- World No. 2 Li Na has pulled out of next month's U.S. Open with a knee injury.
Li, the reigning Australian Open champion and a semifinalist at Flushing Meadows last year, posted a message on her Facebook page saying she expects to return to action after the tennis season's fourth and final grand slam event.
"I wanted to let all of my great fans know that unfortunately I am going to have to withdraw from the upcoming WTA events in Montreal and Cincinnati, as well as the U.S. Open," Li's statement read.
"Since March, I have been struggling with my knee and it is just not where I need it to be in order to play at the highest level.
"My medical team has advised me that I need to take some time off to rest my knee so it heels. I look forward to getting back on the court this fall in Wuhan and Beijing."
After the two Chinese tournaments in late September, there is just one premier-level WTA Tour event before the season-ending championships in Singapore starting October 20. Li is third in the standings for the eight-woman showpiece.
Injury to her right knee forced Li to withdraw from April's Stuttgart Open, and the 32-year-old has struggled with her form since.
A first-round exit at Roland Garros in May was followed by a third-round defeat at Wimbledon the following month, which is her last tournament appearance.
Li became China's first grand slam singles champion when she won the French Open in 2011 and clinched a second major title at Melbourne Park in January, when she beat Slovakia's Dominika Cibulkova in straight sets.
Thursday's announcement came 24 hours after Rafael Nadal revealed he is suffering from a wrist injury and may not be fit for the New York slam.
Nadal clinched his second U.S. Open title against Novak Djokovic last September but his title defense could be in peril after he was told by doctors that he needs at least two to three weeks off from competitive action.
The injury, sustained during practice, has denied the second-ranked Spaniard the chance to defend his titles at next week's Rogers Cup in Toronto and the Cincinnati Masters, which starts on August 10.
Read more: Nadal in doubt for U.S. Open
Football: EPL to use World Cup spray
7/31/2014 2:22:14 PM
- English Premier League to use vanishing spray for 2014/15 season
- Biodegradable foam was a hit with fans and players at Brazil 2014
- The spray has been used in MLS for several years
(CNN) -- The vanishing spray used by referees at the recent FIFA World Cup has found a new home in the English Premier League.
The biodegradable foam, which provides a visual 10-yard marker at free kicks to stop defenders encroaching, will make its debut in the 2014/15 season.
"At the Premier League we are open to developments that enhance the competition and it was clear from watching the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil that Vanishing Spray benefited referees, players, and all of those who watched the matches," Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore said in a statement.
The move follows consultations with both Premier League clubs and referees.
The spray will be used for the first time in the match between Manchester United and Swansea City at Old Trafford on August 16.
Mike Riley, general manager of the Premier League refereeing body -- the Professional Game Match Officials Limited -- welcomed the idea.
"As an assessor at the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil I saw firsthand the benefits of Vanishing Spray for referees, and for the game as a whole," Riley said in a statement.
"The Select Group referees are looking forward to using it during Barclays Premier League matches next season."
The spray, which proved a hit with players, fans and officials at Brazil 2014, has been used in Major League Soccer (MLS) for several years.
Read more: Vanishing spray makes World Cup debut
Will Gaza see Iran, Hamas make up?
8/1/2014 11:11:56 AM
- Gaza has provoked outrage in the Muslim world, write Alex Vatanka and Mohammed Najib
- Tehran is trying to build on the outrage, to gain influence by backing Hamas, they say
- This follows Iran's backing of the al-Assad regime in Syria, while Hamas backs rebels
- Hamas needs to return to Tehran's orbit in order to get military supplies, authors say
Editor's note: Alex Vatanka is a senior fellow the Middle East Institute in Washington D.C., specializing in Middle Eastern affairs with a particular focus on Iranian foreign policy. His forthcoming book is "Iran and Pakistan: Security, Diplomacy and American Influence." He is also a senior fellow at Jamestown Foundation and in Middle East studies at the U.S. Air Force Special Operations School and an adjunct professor at The Defense Institute of Security Assistance Management. Mohammed Najib is a Palestinian war correspondent and defense analyst based in Ramallah. He joined Jane's Information Group in 2001 and writes for several of its publications. The views contained in this commentary are solely the authors'.
(CNN) -- Israel's ongoing military operation in Gaza -- Protective Edge -- has animated the Shia Islamist leadership in Tehran.
The bloody conflict, and the global Muslim outrage it has provoked, is held by the Iranian regime as a chance to redeem itself in the eyes of the Sunni Muslim majority in the world.
When Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei this week called on the "Muslim Nation" to set aside differences and unite against Israel, he was in fact pitching Iranian leadership. Other Muslim leaders speak in such terms. The difference is Iran has the capacity to militarily make a difference by resuming arms supplies to Hamas.
As Khamenei and other Iranian leaders intensify the call to arm Hamas, the political reward they seek is hard to miss.
On the geopolitical map of the Middle East, the Gaza conflict offers an opportunity for Tehran to perhaps start reversing a trend for Iran to be seen as a Shia power -- thanks to its support for the Assad regime in the Syrian civil war -- and go back to what it prefers most: to carry the pan-Islamist banner and offer itself as the principal guardian of Muslim causes.
The beleaguered Hamas -- Iran's one-time favorite Sunni surrogate -- might not have an alternative but to return to Tehran's orbit after a four-year freeze in relations.
Senior security officers from the Palestinian Authority (PA) in Ramallah in the West Bank are keeping a very close eye on the Iran-Hamas dynamics. Officials in the PA, dominated by Hamas' secular rivals from the Fatah movement, fear that Iran extending its hand to Hamas will only embolden it and prolong this latest military round with Israel.
At the same time, officials from the PA detect a strong tendency among Hamas leaders to be open to Tehran's conditions for a resumption of Iranian assistance should Tehran decide to forgive Hamas for its 2011 betrayal. That is when Hamas chose to back the Syrian opposition against the Tehran-backed regime of Bashar al-Assad and thus left Iran's orbit after nearly two-decades of Iranian patronage.
According to one PA official, "Hamas has no other option except to return to its Iranian sponsor." As he put it, "Iran's relations with Hamas were from the outset tactical" and the present circumstances make reconciliation beneficial to both.
Hamas can look forward to the resumption of Iranian arms. Tehran can hope to turn the global Muslim attention to its role as a protector of Palestinians, a development that serves its regional agenda given the unpopularity of Iranian support for Assad in Syria among Muslim public opinion.
In reality, Tehran never entirely cut Hamas loose after the debacle over Syria.
According to a senior PA official, Hamas' political contacts with Iran were largely frozen but the military relationship has continued throughout. Tehran never shut the door to the radical line of Hamas leaders, including Mahmoud al-Zahar in Gaza, and Imad al-Alami, the former representative of Hamas to Iran.
Other Hamas chiefs did not receive this Iranian benevolence. Khaled Meshaal, the one-time Damascus-based political face of Hamas who relocated to Qatar in 2011, has -- according to Iranian media -- tried unsuccessfully for the last three years to make a visit Tehran. He was kept at bay but there is now speculation that Tehran might be willing to receive Meshaal.
If so, it might just be the beginning of the end of the Hamas-Iran fallout over Syria. The groundwork for such a visit might already be in place. Soon after Israel launched its latest campaign against Hamas in Gaza, the influential speaker of Iran's parliament, Ali Larijani, was on the phone with Meshaal. A few days later, the Iranian foreign minister, Javad Zarif called, each promising Tehran's support.
Hezbollah of Lebanon, the jewel in Iran's Arab crown, has also opened the door to Hamas. Palestinian reports suggest that the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), a militant movement close to Iran that unlike Hamas stayed loyal to Tehran over its support for Assad in Syria, is now mediating between Hamas and Hezbollah.
The head of PIJ, Abdullah Shallah, is said to personally lead the effort, which has included a phone conversation between Hassan Nasrallah and Meshaal.
Last week, Nasrallah gave an impassioned speech where he pledged "Hezbollah and the Lebanese resistance will stand by the Palestinian peoples' uprising," but he has thus far resisted Hamas' call for it to open a northern front against Israel."
With Hezbollah fighters still in action in Syria in support of the Assad regime, and with memories fresh of Hamas' support for the Syrian opposition, and given Nasrallah's delicate domestic policy agenda in Beirut, a northern front is very doubtful in this round of fighting.
Still, Iran and Hezbollah can deliver weapons and military know-how, something that other Hamas backers -- such as Qatar and Turkey -- are unable or unwilling to do. As Major General Saeb al-Ajez, the former commander of PA National Security Forces (NSF) put it, Hamas needs to return to the Iranian orbit as it desperately needs military replenishment.
Palestinian sources believe that Meshaal's visit to Tehran likely will happen once a ceasefire with Israel has been agreed. He is expected to thank Tehran for its support and use the visit as a public pronouncement that the Hamas-Iran spat is finally over. A visit to Tehran by Meshaal, however, is still entangled in the geopolitical mess that is today's Middle East.
Meshaal's closest regional allies, Qatar, where he lives, and Turkey, are still at loggerheads with Tehran over competition for influence in Syria and increasingly in Iraq. As a way to bypass this hindrance, Tehran will no longer insist that Hamas publicly support the Assad regime in Syria but only to refrain from publicly criticizing his rule. According to Palestinian sources in the West Bank, Hamas is willing to make this compromise with Tehran.
Read: Who's who in Hamas
Read: This time, Gaza fighting is 'proxy war' for entire Mideast
Read: Why Qatar's intervention won't end crisis
Fate of Israeli soldier remains unknown
8/1/2014 9:16:19 PM
- NEW: Militant group says fighters were killed in an airstrike, including possibly a soldier
- At least 1,600 Palestinians, most of them civilians, have been killed, ministry says
- President Barack Obama says efforts to restore a cease-fire will be "challenging"
- Israel identifies missing soldier as 2nd Lt. Hadar Goldin
Gaza City (CNN) -- The latest attempt at a cease-fire in Gaza disintegrated Friday before it ever really took hold amid accusations that Palestinian militants killed two Israeli soldiers and captured one.
Blaming Hamas and its militant allies for the attack on the soldiers, Israel resumed shelling of what have been described as militant strongholds in Gaza.
The announced 72-hour humanitarian cease-fire between Israel and Hamas didn't even last two hours, by some accounts.
The pause appears to have eroded after about 90 minutes in Rafah, a city in southern Gaza, with the attack on Israeli soldiers. The soldiers were working to destroy a tunnel built by militants to breach Israel's border when a militant emerged from it and detonated a suicide bomb, Israeli military Lt. Col. Peter Lerner told CNN's Wolf Blitzer.
Around that time, Palestinian sources told CNN they could hear shelling in the area. The Gaza Health Ministry said an Israeli attack on Rafah killed at least 62 people and wounded 350.
Hamas spokesman Osama Hamdan denied the group had captured a soldier.
"It's clear that the capture of the soldier is an Israeli story; there's nothing from the resistance saying there was a capture," he told CNN.
The Israel Defense Forces told a different version, saying its troops in Rafah were attacked in a "brutal incident" that required them to defend themselves. At the same time, rockets were fired from Gaza into southern Israel, Mark Regev, spokesman for Israel's Prime Minister, told CNN.
The IDF identified the soldier as 2nd Lt. Hadar Goldin.
By late Friday, there was no claim of responsibility for the capture of the soldier.
But there was speculation about his fate took a turn after the militant group, the al Qassam Brigades, announced it 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 the brigade's website, the group says it assumes that all of the fighters were killed in an Israeli airstrike, including possibly a soldier that Israel claims was captured. The statement stopped short of definitively saying the soldier was captured, using the phrasing "assuming he was captured by the fighters."
Future cease-fire?
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry called the attack on the Israeli soldiers "an outrageous violation of the cease-fire."
It was a sentiment echoed by U.S. President Barack Obama, who told reporters that he was holding Hamas responsible.
"I want to make sure they are listening. If they are serious about a cease-fire, that soldier needs to be unconditionally released," Obama told reporters in Washington.
He went on to say that when Hamas signs on to a cease-fire, the group is saying it's in control of the Palestinian factions.
"I think it's going to be very hard to put a cease-fire back together again, if Israelis and the international community can't be confident that Hamas" will honor it, Obama said.
At the same time, the President called the issue of the mounting civilian casualties in Gaza "heartbreaking."
While Obama said Israel has the right to protect itself, he said the United States has been "clear that innocent civilians in Gaza caught in the crossfire have to weigh on our conscience, and we have to do more to protect them."
With the conflict in its fourth week, more than 1,600 Palestinians have been killed, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza. Of the casualties, the United Nations has estimated between 70% and 80% are civilians.
Since Israel began Operation Protective Edge against Hamas on July 8, three civilians have been killed in Israel. Sixty-one Israeli soldiers have been killed during the hostilities, the IDF has said.
In an overwhelming bipartisan vote, 395-8, the House on Friday gave final congressional approval for another $225 million to support Israel's Iron Dome missile defense system. The Senate passed the measure earlier Friday.
Who's behind the attack?
If the attack on the soldiers in Rafah is corroborated, it would be a violation by Gaza militants of the cease-fire that had been in place, said Robert Serry, U.N. special coordinator for the Middle East peace process. The violation would be "condemned in the strongest terms," he said.
However, the office of U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon clarified that the "U.N. has no independent means to verify exactly what happened."
The narrative emerging from Washington was that Hamas used the cease-fire as cover to attack the soldiers in the tunnel. White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest and U.S. Deputy National Security Adviser Tony Blinken used this same language in remarks Friday. Earnest called the turn of events "rather barbaric."
But the military wing of Hamas disputes that. According to the al Qassam Brigades, they carried out an attack on Israeli troops before the cease-fire took effect. In a statement, the group mentions that Israeli soldiers were killed as a result of the battle, but does not mention the capture of a soldier.
A second Hamas spokesman said Israel broke the Friday cease-fire before and after the hiatus by advancing its forces near civilian areas in Rafah and by occupying civilian homes to use as sniper positions.
1 killed in West Bank protest
Before the cease-fire plan was announced, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had said Israeli troops would continue destroying Hamas' network of tunnels that run under the border into Israel with or without a truce.
Hamdan, the Hamas spokesman, said that this part of the truce was not communicated to his group. He said Hamas' understanding was that there would be no military activity at all.
A U.N. spokesman said it was very clear the Israeli's would continue destroying the tunnels.
"Perhaps some will deny that now," said Jeffery Feltman, undersecretary-general for public affairs. "But, yes, it was very clear in the diplomacy being done yesterday. ... The Israelis never ceased saying that."
Inside a Hamas tunnel
What is Hamas' endgame in Gaza?
What is Israel's endgame in Gaza?
The conflict has caused outrage around the world, including in the Palestinian West Bank, where thousands protested on Friday. One Palestinian was killed in Tulkarem during clashes with the Israeli military, Palestinian paramedics told CNN.
The Arab world has been accused of being silent on the Gaza conflict, but Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah on Friday released a statement condemning the violence.
Palestinians "are being subjected to mass massacres and crimes against humanity without any humane or moral grounds to the point that terrorism has taken different forms," King Abdullah said. "Especially the state sponsored terrorism which is the most dangerous form."
Hamas has said it wants an end to Israel's blockade on Gaza, which restricts the movement of goods and people. It also wants the release of prisoners detained by the Israelis.
Israel, meanwhile, has says it is aiming for the demilitarization of Hamas-controlled Gaza, removing the threat that militant weapons pose to Israeli civilians.
Opinion: Gaza peace struggle drains me of hope
What You Need to Know About the Israel-Hamas Blame Game
CNN's Mariano Castillo and Chelsea J. Carter reported and wrote the story in Atlanta. CNN's Karl Penhaul, John Vause and Salma Abdelaziz contributed from Gaza City. CNN's Wolf Blitzer, Phil O'Sullivan and Tal Heinrich contributed from Jerusalem. CNN's Don Lemon and Ali Younes contributed to this report.
PGA Tour: Johnson not suspended
8/2/2014 7:26:15 AM
- PGA Tour issues denial over Dustin Johnson ban reports
- His break from golf 'voluntary' says Tour
- Johnson announced Thursday he has facing 'personal challenges'
- He will miss PGA Championship and Ryder Cup in Scotland
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(CNN) -- The PGA Tour has issued a denial over reports that American golfer Dustin Johnson is serving a suspension for failing a drugs test.
World No.16 Johnson said Thursday that he would be taking a break from the sport to seek "professional help" to improve his mental health.
It ruled him out of next week's PGA Championship at Valhalla and the Ryder Cup at Gleneagles in Scotland, where he was expected to be a key member of the United States team.
In the aftermath of his announcement, a published report on Golf.com made a series of allegations about his use of recreational drugs and claimed he had actually been banned from the Tour after testing positive for cocaine.
In response, the PGA Tour issued a statement on its website.
"With regard to media reports that Dustin Johnson has been been suspended by the PGA Tour, this is to clarify that Mr. Johnson has taken a voluntary leave of absence and is not under a suspension from the PGA Tour," the statement read.
Johnson, who finished 12th at the British Open last month, paired on the final day with eventual winner Rory McIlroy, did not specify the exact length of his absence from golf in the statement released by his management company.
"I am taking a leave of absence from professional golf, effective immediately. I will use this time to seek professional help for personal challenges I have faced," it read.
"By committing the time and resources necessary to improve my mental health, physical well-being and emotional foundation, I am confident that I will be better equipped to fulfill my potential and become a consistent champion."
THE PGA of America, which runs the PGA Championship and the U.S. Ryder Cup team, later confirmed his withdrawal from those to events.
Reacting to the announcement Friday, U.S. Ryder Cup captain Tom Watson told the PGA website: "We will certainly miss Dustin Johnson at Gleneagles, and we wish him the best.
"As one of the longest hitters in the game with an undefeated record of 3-0 at Medinah in 2012, he has clearly been an asset for the United States team. That said, the United States is a team with an abundance of talent."
Tiger Woods added to his captain's words. "I'll tell you what, with his power, you always want guys with that kind of power to play on any team. I've been his partner in the Presidents Cup in Australia, and the fire power that he has, it's pretty cool to be around," said the 14-time major winner.
"It's not too often you see a guy carry the ball 320 (yards) without even trying, and then when he steps on it he can hit it even further. When he gets it going, it's awfully impressive."
Johnson, who is currently ranked fifth in the standings of U.S. golfers would have almost certainly been an automatic pick for the Ryder Cup.
The 30-year-old has won eight titles on the PGA Tour and is highly regarded by fans and fellow professionals for his big hitting game.
Former U.S. Open champion and European Ryder Cup opponent Justin Rose also passed on his regards to his friend and colleague.
"I just wish him well, whatever he's facing right now," Rose said in quotes carried by UK news agency, the Press Association.
"(It) can't be easy for him. I wish him all the best. He's a friend of mine (but I) didn't really know that that was on the cards."
Johnson rounded off his statement by requesting privacy in the months ahead as he begins his time off.
"I respectfully ask my fans, well-wishers and the media for privacy as I embark upon this mission of self-improvement," he said.
Johnson had earlier pulled out of this week's WGC-Bridgestone International at Firestone GC, Ohio, citing "personal reasons."
That tournament is being led at halfway by Sergio Garcia after a stunning nine-under-par second round of 61 for 11-under 129.
Rose is his nearest challenger on eight under with McIlroy and Australian Mark Leishman on seven under with two rounds to go.
More bloodshed as Israeli shells pound Gaza
8/2/2014 6:50:56 AM
- NEW: Palestinian delegation is en route to Cairo to discuss cease-fire initiative, official says
- Israel Defense Forces: 200 strikes carried out in past 24 hours on "terror targets" in Gaza
- 50 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza so far on Saturday, health ministry says
- Israel identifies missing soldier as 2nd Lt. Hadar Goldin
Gaza City (CNN) -- The bloodshed in Gaza showed no sign of letting up Saturday, with 50 Palestinians reported killed amid renewed Israeli shelling following accusations that Palestinian militants captured an Israeli soldier.
The fate of the soldier, identified by the Israel Defense Forces as 2nd Lt. Hadar Goldin, remains unclear.
And each side blames the other for the collapse of an attempted cease-fire in Friday, which disintegrated before it ever really took hold.
Pointing the finger at Hamas and its militant allies for the attack, in which Goldin went missing and two other soldiers were killed, Israel resumed shelling on what it has described as militant strongholds in Gaza.
As of Saturday, the overall Palestinian death toll has risen to 1,650, with more than 8,900 wounded, said Dr. Ashraf el-Qedra, spokesman for the Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza, on his Facebook page.
The IDF said Saturday morning that it had hit 200 "terror targets" in Gaza in the past 24 hours, including "tunnels, weapon manufacturing and storage facilities, and command and control centers."
A huge pre-dawn blast rocked Gaza as the Islamic University was apparently hit by Israeli shelling. According to the IDF, it was targeting "a Hamas military wing facility that was used for research and development of weapon manufacturing" within the university.
Shelling also targeted weapons caches and Hamas facilities within five mosques, it said.
In addition, Israeli aircraft targeted a missile launcher used to fire at Tel Aviv early Saturday, the IDF said. In the past 24 hours, 65 rockets have been fired into Israel, the IDF said, 11 of which were intercepted.
The missing soldier
By late Friday, there was no claim of responsibility for the capture of the missing soldier.
But speculation about his fate took a turn 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, age 23, was reportedly taken.
In a statement posted on its website, the militant group says it assumes that all of the fighters were killed in an Israeli airstrike, including possibly a soldier that Israel claims was captured. The statement stopped short of definitively saying the soldier was captured, using the phrasing "assuming he was captured by the fighters."
The group "has no information till this moment about the missing soldier, his place, or the circumstances of his disappearance," it added.
Hamas spokesman Osama Hamdan denied any capture happened.
"It's clear that the capture of the soldier is an Israeli story; there's nothing from the resistance saying there was a capture," he told CNN.
As the conflict in Gaza intensified Saturday, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi said that an Egyptian cease-fire initiative -- involving negotiators from the Israeli and Palestinian sides -- was 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.
"We have a real opportunity to end this conflict for once and for all but we must give the Palestinian people real hope in a Palestinian state and its capital, East Jerusalem," el-Sisi said. "It might sound too early to talk about this but this must be our final goal."
An official Palestinian delegation is en route to Cairo to attend the negotiations, Hanan Ashrawi, executive committee member of the Palestine Liberation Organization in the West Bank, told CNN's "New Day."
"It will be in Cairo relatively soon and we're hoping that they will be able to negotiate not just an end to this latest tragic bloodshed and to save lives and end this carnage, but also to try to dismantle all the causes that have brought about such a horrific situation," she said.
However, according to Israeli media reports, Israel will not send a delegation to Cairo.
Short-lived ceasefire
The announced 72-hour humanitarian cease-fire between Israel and Hamas didn't even last two hours Friday, by some accounts.
The pause appears to have eroded after about 90 minutes in Rafah, a city in southern Gaza, with the attack on Israeli soldiers. The soldiers were working to destroy a tunnel built by militants to breach Israel's border, when a militant emerged from it and detonated a suicide bomb, Israeli military Lt. Col. Peter Lerner told CNN's Wolf Blitzer.
Before the cease-fire plan was announced, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had said Israeli troops would continue destroying Hamas' network of tunnels that run under the border into Israel with or without a truce.
Hamdan, the Hamas spokesman, said that this part of the truce was not communicated to his group -- that Hamas' understanding was that there would be no military activity at all.
Around the time of the suicide bombing, Palestinian sources told CNN they could hear shelling in the area. The Gaza Health Ministry said an Israeli attack on Rafah killed at least 62 people and wounded 350.
A Hamas spokesman said Israel broke the cease-fire before and after the hiatus by advancing its forces near civilian areas in Rafah and by occupying civilian homes to use as sniper positions.
The al Qassam Brigades said the clash with Israeli soldiers in which Goldin disappeared occurred before the cease-fire took effect.
The Israel Defense Forces told a different version, saying its troops in Rafah were attacked in a "brutal incident" that required them to defend themselves. At the same time, rockets were fired from Gaza into southern Israel, Mark Regev, spokesman for Israel's Prime Minister, told CNN.
What is Hamas' endgame in Gaza?
What is Israel's endgame in Gaza?
Future cease-fire?
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry called the attack on the Israeli soldiers "an outrageous violation of the cease-fire."
It was a sentiment echoed by U.S. President Barack Obama, who told reporters in Washington that he was holding Hamas responsible.
"If they are serious about a cease-fire, that soldier needs to be unconditionally released," Obama said. He went on to say that when Hamas signs on to a cease-fire, the group is saying it's in control of the Palestinian factions.
While Obama said Israel has the right to protect itself, he called the growing number of civilians killed in Gaza "heartbreaking" and said more must be done to protect them.
With the conflict in its fourth week, the United Nations has estimated between 70% and 80% of the Palestinian casualties are civilians.
Since Israel began Operation Protective Edge against Hamas on July 8, three civilians have been killed in Israel. Sixty-one Israeli soldiers have been killed during the hostilities, the IDF has said.
In an overwhelming bipartisan vote, 395-8, the House on Friday gave final congressional approval for another $225 million to support Israel's Iron Dome missile defense system. The Senate passed the measure earlier Friday.
Inside a Hamas tunnel
1 killed in West Bank protest
The conflict has caused outrage around the world, including in the Palestinian West Bank, where thousands protested on Friday. One Palestinian was killed in Tulkarem during clashes with the Israeli military, Palestinian paramedics told CNN.
The Arab world has been accused of being silent on the Gaza conflict, but Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah on Friday released a statement condemning the violence.
Hamas has said it wants an end to Israel's blockade on Gaza, which restricts the movement of goods and people. It also wants the release of prisoners detained by the Israelis.
Israel, meanwhile, has said it is aiming for the demilitarization of Hamas-controlled Gaza, removing the threat that militant weapons pose to Israeli civilians.
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CNN's Mariano Castillo and Laura Smith-Spark reported and wrote the story in Atlanta and London. CNN's Karl Penhaul, John Vause and Salma Abdelaziz contributed from Gaza City, and Tal Heinrich from Jerusalem. CNN's Kareem Khadder also contributed.
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