Dozens of family members of hostages, held by Hamas, stormed a committee meeting in Israel’s parliament, on Monday, demanding a deal to win their loved ones’ release.
This is coming as European Foreign Ministers joined growing international calls for Israel to negotiate the creation of a Palestinian state after the war.
The developments showed the increasing pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has dug in on both fronts.
He has insisted that pursuing the devastating offensive in Gaza is the only way to bring the hostages home.
At the same time, he has rejected the United States’ vision for a postwar resolution. He said he would never allow a Palestinian state.
The dispute over Gaza’s future pits Israel against its top ally and much of the international community.
It also poses a major obstacle to plans for postwar governance or reconstruction of the coastal territory, large parts of which have been left unlivable by Israeli bombardment.
As fears grow that Israel’s war in Gaza will spark a wider regional conflict, the U.S. and British militaries bombed eight locations in Yemen used by the Houthi rebels.
It’s the eighth time the U.S. has bombed Houthi sites since Jan. 12, U.S. officials said late Monday, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss a military operation.
The Iranian-backed Houthis have attacked shipping in the region’s waterways, saying they aim to end the Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip.
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In southern Gaza, Israeli strikes and shelling intensified in and around the city of Khan Younis.
The strikes are sending Palestinian families fleeing south in pickup trucks and donkey carts loaded with possessions.
In the city, which has been a battle zone for weeks, people buried the dead inside the Al-Nasser Hospital yard.
This is as staff struggled to deal with dozens of newly killed and wounded, including children.
Healthcare workers said strikes hit at least four schools, sheltering displaced people on the city’s western edges.
They also hit two schools inside a coastal strip that Israel had declared a safe zone for people fleeing.
Gaza’s internet and phone networks collapsed again on Monday for the 10th time during the war.
The repeated blackouts severely hamper the distribution of aid that’s essential for the survival of the territory’s population of 2.3 million, U.N. officials said.
The loss of service also prevents Palestinians from communicating with each other and the outside world. (AP News)
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