Israel–Hamas war

The United States has issued a stunning criticism of Israel's use of American weapons in the Gaza war, after Israeli forces intensified operations around the southern city of Rafah, where more than a million displaced people are sheltering.

The White House has issued a statement affirming President Joe Biden's commitment to maintaining cooperation with Israel until the complete eradication of the radical Palestinian group Hamas from the Gaza Strip, as reported by Reuters.

Israel launched fresh strikes in the Gaza Strip Friday after negotiators pursuing a long-stalled truce agreement left talks in Cairo without having secured a deal.

AFP journalists in the Gaza Strip early Friday witnessed artillery strikes on Rafah on the territory's southern border with Egypt, while witnesses reported air strikes and fighting in Gaza City further north.

In a significant development that underscores growing tensions in the Middle East, President Joe Biden has issued a stern warning to Israel, announcing the halt of certain weapons deliveries if a military operation proceeds in the Palestinian territory of Rafah.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has declared that Türkiye will use all available means to hold Israel accountable for its actions in Gaza.

"We will use all our means to hold those who claimed the lives of 35,000 of our brothers accountable before the law," Erdoğan said during an event in the capital Ankara on May 6.

Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan has cautioned that failing to heed the lessons from the ongoing tragedy in the Gaza Strip could lead to further conflict in the Palestinian enclave.

The support extended to Israel during the Gaza war has sparked widespread protests across U.S. universities, underscoring both the potency of student activism in influencing Washington's actions and its symbolic resonance in aligning with "the right side of history," Turkish students in the U.S. have expressed.

Talks to reach a Gaza truce were expected to resume Sunday after officials from the Hamas Islamist organisation and Israel publicly disagreed over demands to end their seven-month war.

While mediation took place in Egypt, the head of the U.N.'s World Food Programme said "there is famine" in northern Gaza, and appealed for a ceasefire.

Hamas said its delegation was heading to Cairo on Saturday to resume Gaza truce talks, as the United Nations warned that Israel's threatened assault on the city of Rafah could produce a "bloodbath".

Foreign mediators have been waiting for the Palestinian militant group to respond to a proposal to halt fighting for 40 days and exchange hostages for Palestinian prisoners.

Hamas says it is considering in a "positive spirit" a Gaza truce deal, while the U.N. warned rebuilding the devastated Palestinian territory would require efforts not seen since World War II.