Hamas

Hamas said Thursday that 11 militants were repairing the tunnel to fix damage sustained from heavy rainfall.

JERUSALEM (AP) -- The popularity of the Hamas militant group among Palestinians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip has spiked significantly following the 50-day war with Israel, according to an opinion poll released Tuesday.

Israel and Hamas agreed Tuesday to an open-ended cease-fire, halting a seven-week war that killed more than 2,200 people, the vast majority Palestinians, left tens of thousands in Gaza homeless and devastated entire neighborhoods in the blockaded territory.

In an exclusive interview with the Townsquare News Network, Israel's ambassador to the United states said Thursday that his country "stands ready" to continue the current cease-fire in Gaza, but that any such extension "depends on Hamas."

JERUSALEM (AP) -- An Israeli soldier the military feared had been abducted by Palestinian gunmen in a firefight that shattered a temporary ceasefire in Gaza has been declared dead, ending what could have been a nightmare scenario for Israel hours after it signaled it plans to scale back its operation against Hamas militants.

JERUSALEM (AP) -- Israel won't participate in indirect cease-fire talks with Hamas for now and instead plans to scale back its 26-day-old military operation in Gaza on its own terms, Israeli officials and media reports said Saturday.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Secretary of State John Kerry is condemning an "outrageous" violation by Palestinian militants of the Gaza cease-fire he helped to broker. Kerry's demanding the immediate release of an Israeli soldier apparently abducted by the radical Hamas movement.

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) -- A Gaza cease-fire quickly unraveled Friday as violence erupted in and around the southern town of Rafah, with at least 35 Palestinians killed by Israeli shelling and the military saying an infantry officer may have been captured.

JERUSALEM (AP) -- Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that Israel will destroy Hamas' tunnel network in the Gaza Strip designed for deadly attacks inside Israel, "with or without a cease-fire," as the military called up another 16,000 reservists to pursue its campaign against Palestinian militants in the densely-populated territory.

UNITED NATIONS (AP) -- The U.N. secretary-general on Wednesday said he was "alarmed" to hear that rockets were placed in a U.N.-run school in Gaza and now "have gone missing," and he demanded a full review of such incidents.