As Israel expands operations in the enclave, Gazans increasingly voice defiance against Hamas, with dissenters risking their lives to demand freedom from the group’s grip.

President Donald Trump said Monday morning that the remaining hostages in Gaza will only be returned when Hamas is “confronted and destroyed.”

The Palestinian Health Ministry reports that more than 62,000 Palestinians have been killed in the 22-month Gaza war.

Many Israelis feel that freeing the hostages cannot happen if the government refuses to come to terms with Hamas and pursues its policy of trying to eliminate the group militarily.

The Revere lawmaker is the highest-ranking congressional Democrat to use that historically significant term to refer to the worsening conflict.

Families of hostages held in Gaza are stepping up their campaign to secure their release by holding a strike across Israel.

Hamas' meetings with Egyptian officials will focus on ways to stop the war, deliver aid, and "end the suffering of our people in Gaza," Hamas official Taher al-Nono said in a statement.

Pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil kicked off the rally outside the New York Public Library near Bryant Park before those in attendance started marching across Manhattan. Protesters called for an end to the Israel-Hamas war and for the United States to stop sending aid to Israel. People from across the country attended.