Israel intensifies Gaza City bombing as Rubio arrives
By Nidal al-Mughrabi and Simon Lewis
CAIRO/JERUSALEM (Reuters) -Israeli forces destroyed at least 30 residential buildings in Gaza City and forced thousands of people from their homes, Palestinian officials said, as U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived on Sunday to discuss the future of the conflict.
Israel has said it plans to seize the city, where about a million Palestinians have been sheltering, as part of its declared aim of eliminating the militant group Hamas, and has intensified attacks on what it has called Hamas' last bastion.
The group's political leadership, which has engaged in on-and-off negotiations on a possible ceasefire and hostage release deal, was targeted by Israel in an airstrike in Doha on Tuesday in an attack that drew widespread condemnation.
Qatar will host an emergency Arab-Islamic summit on Monday to discuss the next moves. Rubio said Washington wanted to talk about how to free the 48 hostages - of whom 20 are believed to be still alive - still held by Hamas in Gaza and rebuild the coastal strip.
"What's happened, has happened," he said. "We're gonna meet with them (the Israeli........
© Al Monitor
