Israel-Gaza war: UN chief calls Israel'sairstrikes in Rafah an 'unbearable escalation' | BBC News

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said Israel willlaunch an invasion of the southern Gaza city of Rafahregardless of truce talks with Hamas.

It comes amid ongoing attempts to try to reach an agreement for a ceasefire and hostage releases.

His comments follow renewed warnings by the US and UN against a Rafah invasion.

The US secretary of state Antony Blinken hopesHamas will accept what he has called Israel's"extraordinarily generous" offer for a Gaza truce andhostage release deal. He was speaking as a Hamasdelegation discussed the new proposal with mediators from Egypt and Qatar.

Meanwhile in the United States, pro-Palestinianstudent protesters at Columbia University, who havebarricaded themselves inside a campus building, could"face expulsion".