U.S. and European governments have joined to put pressure on Israel to hold off on its ground invasion of Gaza to allow more time to win the release of hostages held by Hamas, U.S. and foreign officials said.
Several countries have been trying to leverage their contacts with Hamas to press the militant group to release the hostages taken during their onslaught on Israel earlier this month.
One U.S. official had said that Qatar's government had been very helpful on the matter, but noted the difficulties of reaching an agreement given Israel's bombardment of Gaza and the spiraling humanitarian crisis there.
Organizations:
Hamas, U.S
Locations:
Israel, Gaza, U.S