Israel and Hamas dig in as pressure builds for a cease-fire in Gaza

By TIA GOLDENBERG, JACK JEFFERY and WAFAA SHURAFA
Associated Press

JERUSALEM (AP) — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to press ahead with Israel’s offensive. He blasted a United Nations Security Council resolution calling for a pause to the fighting, saying Tuesday that it had emboldened Hamas to reject a separate cease-fire proposal. As the war in Gaza grinds through a sixth month, each side has publicly insisted that its own idea of victory is in reach and rejected efforts to stem the bloodshed. Israel says it can achieve its aims of dismantling Hamas and returning scores of hostages if it expands its ground offensive to the crowded city of Rafah. Hamas has said it will hold the hostages until Israel agrees to end the war.