Negotiators including from Qatar and the US pressed to maintain the truce agreement for Gaza that’s due to end in hours, with the prospect of an extension for at least two more days increasingly likely,

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rebuffed on Sunday international calls to end the Gaza war, describing them as inconsistent with supporting the war-aim of eliminating Hamas.

ISRAEL pressed its offensive against Hamas militants in Gaza on Saturday after the United States blocked an extraordinary UN bid to call for a ceasefire in the two-month war. Hamas and the Palestinian Authority swiftly condemned the US veto as the Hamas-run health ministry put the latest death toll in Gaza at 17,