Kerry seeks help from Turkey and Qatar to find missing soldier

US Secretary of State John Kerry has appealed to Qatar and Turkey to use their influence with Hamas to secure the release of an Israeli soldier who went missing in Gaza on Friday morning.

Reuters reported that Kerry called the Qatari Foreign Minister Khalid al-Atiyyah and Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu urging them to pressure Hamas to release the Israeli soldier immediately.

Israeli announced the death of two of its soldiers and said it lost a third one just after the beginning of the humanitarian truce. It accused Hamas of kidnapping the soldier.

On his part, Kerry threatened the Palestinians saying if they did not release the soldier that the escalation will continue and it would lead to dangerous consequences.

Meanwhile, Palestinian factions in Gaza have denied capturing the Israeli soldier, but recognised that a shootout did take place. They insisted that it was before the start of the truce and that it followed an Israeli army invasion into Rafah.