RAFAH, Gaza Strip—Hamas on Monday released two elderly Israeli women held hostage in Gaza as the United States expressed increasing concern that the escalating Israel-Hamas war will spark a wider conflict in the region, including attacks on American troops.
The death toll in Gaza rose rapidly as Israel ramped up airstrikes that flattened buildings in what it said was preparation for an eventual ground assault. The United States advised Israel to delay the expected invasion to allow time to negotiate the release of more hostages taken by Hamas during its brutal incursion two weeks ago.
Lifschitz, an artist and academic in London who uses a different spelling for her name, told reporters last week that her parents were peace activists, and her father would drive to the Gaza border to take Palestinians to east Jerusalem for medical treatment.“I grew up, you know, with all these Holocaust stories about how all my uncles’ lives were saved because” of acts of kindness, she said.
The Associated Press could not independently verify either video, and both the hostages and the prisoners could have been acting under duress. He said US officials were having “active conversations” with Israeli counterparts about the potential ramifications of escalated military action. More than 1,400 people in Israel have been killed—mostly civilians slain during the initial Hamas attack. At least 222 people were captured and dragged back to Gaza, including foreigners, the military said Monday, updating a previous figure.
Israel says it does not target civilians, and that Palestinian militants have fired over 7,000 rockets at Israel since the start of the war. But inside Gaza, the civilian death toll continued to mount.
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