The Israeli army bombarded Khan Yunis, the new epicentre of the war in Gaza, as the families of hostages held by Hamas urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to reach a deal to secure their release.
Israeli tanks storming southern Gaza's main city reached the gates of two hospitals on Monday, cutting residents off from trauma care as the bloodiest fighting of the new year tore through areas sheltering hundreds of thousands of displaced.
Tami Varon needed a night out to laugh. With two of her sons just back from fighting Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip, she joined some 400 others at a comedy show of visiting U.S. comics in Israel to try to forget about the war for a while.