The U.S. increased pressure on Israel to ease its intense bombardment of the Gaza Strip, deploying top diplomats to the Middle East in recent days, even without the release of hostages taken by Hamas, which Israel has set as the condition for any pause in

The U.S. increased pressure on Israel to ease its intense bombardment of the Gaza Strip, deploying top diplomats to the Middle East in recent days, even without the release of hostages taken by Hamas, which Israel has set as the condition for any pause in its military operations.