DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israel struck houses and tents in central and southern Gaza 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.

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 U.S.

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