IDF Controls 40% Of Gaza City; U.S. Blames France For Failure Of Talks With Hamas

1) Advanced military preparations for the occupation of Gaza city are ongoing as Israel marks the 700th day of the War ‘Swords of Iron’. 2) Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu acknowledges that Israel will enact a unilateral response to a list of countries intent on recognizing a Palestinian state. 3) President Isaac Herzog meeting Pope Lio XIV, during which he urged him to support efforts to retrieve the hostages from Hamas captivity.