Omer Neutra and Edan Alexander, young men from the New York area who joined Israel’s military, were taken prisoner near Gaza. Their families now share one urgent goal: to free them.
The Friends Committee, a Quaker lobbying group, has been pushing in Washington for a cease-fire, going up against more powerful and better-funded groups backing Israel.
Israel says Hamas routinely operates within — and beneath — places like Nasser hospital in Khan Younis, using them as shields, and has held Israeli hostages there. The group denies the charges.
The death toll Wednesday was the highest in months of cross-border fighting, and amplified fears that the cross-border clashes could escalate into a full-fledged war.
To dull his heartache, Mustafa Abutaha told stories of people sheltering with him at Nasser hospital; he later fled before the Israeli military closed in. Israeli forces began raiding the medical facility on Thursday.