The war in Gaza may be on the cusp of a new phase after Israel approved plans over the weekend to intensify its operations. Which raises the question: After 19 months of bloodshed and destruction, why is there still no end in sight?
Israel and Hamas appear to only be growing further apart. Israel unleashed fierce strikes in March, shattering a truce that had freed hostages and sent in badly needed aid. Israel's new plans include seizing the strip, forcibly displacing hundreds of thousands of Palestinians and asserting greater control over the distribution of aid in the territory, according to Israeli officials.

Israeli strikes across Gaza killed at least 59 people, including women and children, hospital officials said Wednesday, as Israel prepares to ramp up its campaign against Hamas in a devastating war now entering its 20th month.
The strikes included one attack on Tuesday night on a school sheltering hundreds of displaced Palestinians, which killed 27 people, officials from the Al-Aqsa Hospital said, including nine women and three children. It was the fifth time since the war began that the school in central Gaza has been struck.

Turkey's intelligence service thwarted a remote attack using pagers last year in Lebanon, days after similar attacks by Israel killed dozens and wounded thousands, including members of Lebanon's Hezbollah group, a Turkish daily and officials said.
Daily Sabah reported that 1,300 pagers and 710 chargers rigged with explosives were confiscated inside a cargo shipment at Istanbul Airport that was on its way to Beirut from Hong Kong.

Paris Saint-Germain striker Ousmane Dembélé has recovered from a slight hamstring problem and will be in the squad taking on Arsenal in the second leg of their Champions League semifinal on Wednesday.
Coach Luis Enrique said Dembélé, who scored the winner in PSG's 1-0 win in London last week, has been training with his teammates for two days.

Inter Milan and Barcelona could both have their key forwards back for the second leg of their Champions League semifinal on Wednesday.
The teams are tied at 3-3 after their rollercoaster match last week set up a must-see sequel in Milan.

AC Milan scored twice in two minutes to beat Genoa 2-1 in Serie A on Monday and keep alive its slim hopes of a place in next year's Champions League.
Genoa substitute Vitinha scored a minute after taking the field to give his side the lead after 61 minutes.

As the popularity of women's soccer grows, so have the opportunities for players looking to make the sport a career.
The National Women's Soccer League was once the lone professional women's league in North America. But others have more recently jumped into the market, including the USL's Super League and the Northern Super League in Canada.

Strands of kelp glow in the dim morning light off California's Channel Islands as fish and sea lions weave through the golden fronds. It's a scene of remarkable abundance — the result of more than two decades of protection in one of the state's oldest marine reserves.
But farther out in the Pacific, life in the vast Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument faces a very different future. The Trump administration has moved to reopen 500,000 square miles (about 1.3 million square kilometers) of previously protected waters there to commercial fishing, in a dramatic rollback of federal ocean protections.

President Donald Trump's first 100 days included a wide range of attacks on environmental and climate initiatives. His proposed budget does the same.
The document released Friday looks to curtail or cut billions of dollars for everything from drinking water, clean energy and weather satellites to national parks, emergency management and environmental justice, to name a few.

Israel’s military said Tuesday it launched airstrikes against Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen, fully disabling the country’s international airport in the capital, Sanaa, shortly after issuing a warning for people to evacuate the area of the airport.
It also said several power plants were struck in the area.
