By Paul Adams in Jerusalem, Anthony Zucher in Tel Aviv & Graeme Baker BBC News
Israel has rebuffed US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s call for a “humanitarian pause” in Gaza.
Mr Blinken said he had discussed the idea with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other officials during their talks in Tel Aviv.
But in a TV statement minutes later, Mr Netanyahu said Israel rejected “a temporary ceasefire that does not include the release of our hostages”.
He said that Israel was “continuing with all our force” against Hamas.
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The smart thing that hamas could have done is never attack.
Israel is never going to free hundreds of terrorists to get the hostages back because it will only embolden hamas. The only way fir Isreal to stop hamas is to eradicate it