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Israel strikes across Gaza as US says will block another UN truce resolution

Israeli strikes across Gaza killed at least 18 people overnight and into Sunday, according to medics and witnesses, as the United States said it would veto another draft U.N. cease-fire resolution.

The U.S., Israel's top ally, instead hopes to broker a cease-fire agreement and hostage release between Israel and Hamas, and envisions a wider resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has pushed back, calling Hamas' demands "delusional" and rejecting U.S. and international calls for a pathway to Palestinian statehood.

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Fresh Gaza strikes as fears grow for patients in raided hospital

Israel said it had taken into custody 100 people at one of Gaza's main hospitals after troops raided the facility, with fears mounting Saturday for patients and staff trapped inside.

The deadly bombardment of Gaza continued overnight with another 100 people killed in Israeli strikes, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.

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Biden warns Netanyahu not to attack Rafah without plan, Israel says 'thoroughly planning'

U.S. President Joe Biden has again cautioned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu against moving forward with a military operation into Gaza's southernmost city of Rafah without a "credible and executable plan" to protect around 1.4 million Palestinians sheltering there.

However, Israel's defense minister said the country is "thoroughly planning" its promised ground invasion of Rafah, and Netanyahu vowed early Friday to reject "international dictates" on a long-term resolution of Israel's conflict with the Palestinians.

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Macron says recognizing a Palestinian state 'not a taboo' for France

President Emmanuel Macron said on Friday that recognizing a Palestinian state was "not a taboo for France" in his first such comments since the start of the war in Gaza.

"The recognition of a Palestinian state is not a taboo for France," he said at a joint press conference in Paris with Jordan's King Abdullah II.

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Egypt building 'enclosure' for displaced Gazans in Sinai

Egypt is building a wall and is leveling land near its border with the Gaza Strip ahead of a planned Israeli offensive targeting the border city of Rafah, satellite images analyzed Friday by The Associated Press show.

Egypt, which has not publicly acknowledged the construction, repeatedly has warned Israel not to forcibly expel the over 1 million Palestinians now displaced in Rafah across the border into its territory while it battles the militant group Hamas for a fifth month.

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Two dead, four wounded in south Israel shooting

Two people were killed in Israel when a gunman opened fire on a crowded bus stop near the southern town of Kiryat Malakhi on Friday, a hospital and police said.

Two people who were brought to Kaplan Medical Center had been declared dead, a spokeswoman for the facility told AFP. Four others were wounded in the shooting, police said.

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Russia invites Hamas, other Palestinian factions for talks

Russia has invited Hamas and other Palestinian factions including Fatah to Moscow for talks on the Israel-Hamas war and other issues in the Middle East, an official said Friday.

Moscow, which for years tried to court good relations with all major players in the region, has grown increasingly critical of Israel and its Western backers amid the ongoing war in Gaza.

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5 patients die as oxygen runs out in Gaza hospital seized by Israeli forces

Five patients in intensive care died after their oxygen cut off in southern Gaza's main hospital that was stormed by Israeli troops, causing chaos for hundreds of staff and wounded inside, health officials said Friday. Troops were searching the complex where the military said it believes the remains of hostages abducted by Hamas might be located.

The raid came after troops had besieged Nasser Hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis for nearly a week, with staff, patients and others inside struggling under heavy fire and dwindling supplies, including food and water. The Israeli military said Friday it had detained dozens from the facility, including some it alleged were involved in Hamas' Oct. 7 attack on Israel.

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Netanyahu rejects 'international dictates' on conflict with Palestinians

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Friday that Israel will not accept what he portrayed as “international dictates” regarding a resolution of the conflict with the Palestinians.

Writing early Friday on X, Netanyahu said such a resolution can only be the result of negotiations. He also said Israel opposes a unilateral recognition of statehood, claiming it would amount to a “huge reward” for the militant group Hamas following its deadly Oct. 7 attack on Israel.

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Leaders of Egypt and Brazil call for Gaza ceasefire

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Thursday called for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza and reiterated their support for an independent Palestinian state.

“We agreed on the importance of a cease-fire in the Gaza strip and the release of (Israeli) hostages and (Palestinian) prisoners and the passage of as much humanitarian aid as possible in order to preserve the lives of civilians,” al-Sisi said in a news conference attended by Lula in Cairo. The Brazilian leader was visiting Egypt as part of a trip strengthening relations with Africa.

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