Israeli strike in Gaza kills at least I7

Israel struck houses and tents in central and southern Gaza on Thursday, crushing families inside and killing at least 17 people, including 10 children and three women, local health officials said, as international pressure for a ceasefire continued to grow.

- By WaraA SHURAFA, Davip RIsInG AND KAREEM CHEHAYEB

ABDEL KAREEM HANA Associated Press PALESTINIANS survey the aftermath of an Israeli military strike on the Abu Dahrouj family home in Zawaida, central Gaza Strip.

On the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, French President Emmanuel Macron told France 24 his country had recognized a Palestinian state on the conviction it “is the only way to isolate Hamas,” which has proved itself able to regenerate even after many of its leaders have been killed.

“Total war in Gaza is causing civilian casualties but can’t bring about the end of Hamas,” Macron said in the interview Wednesday. “Factually, it’s a failure.”

He said he had been lobbying President Trump to press Israel again for a ceasefire. “You cannot stop the war if there is no path to peace,” Macron added.

Some Israeli ministers in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government have pushed for annexing the occupied West Bank in response to international recognition of Palestinian statehood — a move that could effectively strip the Palestinian Authority of its civil and security powers in parts of the territory.

Macron said such a move would be a red line for France, and “I think it’s also a red line for the United States of America.”

Neither the White House nor the State Department responded to requests for comment on Macron’s statement.

Netanyahu has said he won't make any decisions until he returns from the USS., where he is to address the U.N. General Assembly on Friday and then meet with Trump in Washington.

Strikes hit central and southern Gaza

In the early hours Thursday, an Israeli strike hit a tent and a house in the central town of Zawaida, killing at least 12 people, according to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the nearby city of Deir al-Balah.

Among the dead were a couple and five of their children, along with three other children.