Israel, Hamas dig in as cease-fire pressure builds

JERUSALEM — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday vowed to press ahead with the war in Gaza and blasted a U.N. Security Council resolution calling for a pause, saying it had emboldened Hamas to reject a separate proposal for a ceasefire and hostage release.

As the war grinds through a sixth month, each side has publicly insisted that its own idea of victory is within reach and rejected international efforts to stem the bloodshed. The United States’ decision not to block the Security Council resolution escalated tensions between it and Israel over the conduct of the war.

Netanyahu has said Israel can only achieve its aims of dismantling Hamas and returning scores of hostages if it expands its ground offensive to the southern city of Rafah, where over half of Gaza’s population has sought refuge, many in crowded tent camps. The U.S. has said a major assault on Rafah would be a mistake.

Hamas says it will hold onto the hostages until Israel agrees to a more permanent cease-fire, withdraws its forces from Gaza and releases hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, including top militants. It said late Monday that it rejected a recent proposal that fell short of those demands — which, if fulfilled, would allow it to claim an extremely costly victory. Netanyahu said in a statement that the announcement “proved clearly that Hamas is not interested in continuing negotiations toward a deal and served as unfortunate testimony to the damage of the Security Council decision.”

“Israel will not surrender to Hamas’ delusional demands and will continue to act to achieve all the goals of the war: releasing all the hostages, destroying Hamas’ military and governing capabilities and ensuring that Gaza will never again be a threat to Israel.”

The war has killed over 32,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its tally but says women and children make up about two-thirds of those killed. The fighting has left much of the Gaza Strip in ruins, displaced most its residents and driven a third of its population of 2.3 million to the brink of famine.

An Israeli strike late Monday on a residential building in Rafah where three displaced families were sheltering killed at least 16 people, including nine children and four women, according to hospital records and relatives of the deceased.