Gaza: US to block cease-fire motion

Rafah: Israeli strikes across Gaza killed at least 18 people overnight into Sunday, according to medics and witnesses, as the United States said it would veto another draft UN cease-fire resolution.

The US, Israel's top ally, instead hopes to broker a cease-fire agreement and hostage release between Israel and Hamas, and envisions a wider resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called Hamas' demands “delusional” and rejected US and international calls for a pathway to Palestinian statehood.

His Cabinet adopted a declaration Sunday saying Israel “rejects international edicts on a permanent arrangement with the Palestinians" and opposes any unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state, which it said would “grant a major prize to terror” after the October 7 attack. (AP)