Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed 15 months ago that Israel would achieve “total victory” in the war in Gaza — by eradicating Hamas and freeing all the hostages.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday demanded that 2,500 children be immediately evacuated from Gaza for medical treatment after meeting with U.S. doctors who said the children were at imminent risk of death in the coming weeks.

The return of fighters to Gaza streets highlights how Israeli bombardment has failed to achieve Netanyahu’s goal or eradicating Hamas as a political force.

More than 375,000 Palestinians have made their way back to homes in northern Gaza after 15 months on the run because of war.

President Donald Trump has signed an executive order promising “immediate action” from federal law enforcement against noncitizen college students and others in the United States who participated in pro-Palestinian demonstrations during Israel’s war in Gaza.

Witkoff, a real estate investor and Trump campaign donor with business ties to Qatar and other Gulf states, was in the region to oversee implementation of a ceasefire deal between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

Israel says it has killed thousands of the armed group’s members and destroyed much of its infrastructure, but since the cease-fire started Hamas has shown it still holds power in the enclave.

Hamas-led militants freed eight hostages on Thursday in the latest release since a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip took hold earlier this month. Israel was expected to release another 110 Palestinian prisoners.

A separate U.S. program that provides contraceptives internationally spent $60 million worldwide in one year, but Gaza was not among the recipients.

Israeli leaders delayed the release of more than hundred Palestinians as agreed over concerns with how the eight Israeli hostages were released.

President Donald Trump’s suggestion that Egypt and Jordan take in Palestinians from the war-ravaged Gaza Strip is being met with a hard “no” from at least one of the two U.S. allies