TRANSCRIPT:
The Kibbutz Nir Oz in southern Israel is one of more than 20 towns and villages where Hamas militants attacked on October 7, killing some residents and kidnapping others.
United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken has made a brief stop at the site during his visit to the Middle East, accompanied by Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant.
Blinken is on his seventh visit to the region since hostilities erupted in his bid to secure what’s been an elusive deal between Israel and Hamas that could avert an Israeli incursion into the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are sheltering.
Mr Blinken has told the Israelis that the US is doing everything it can.
"Israel has made very important compromises in the proposal that's on the table demonstrating its desire and willingness to get this agreement and get it done. Now, as we've been saying, it's on Hamas. Hamas has to decide whether it will take this deal and actually advance the situation for the people that it purports to care about in Gaza. There is no time for delay. There's no time for further haggling."
Blinken has also met with the Israeli President, Isaac Herzog - and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem.
The US Secretary of State has said he still has not seen a plan for the offensive that would protect civilians, and that Washington could not support such an assault.
But Israel has maintained their planned assault on Rafah would go ahead.
Humanitarian assistance also remains a pressing concern.
Blinken has asked Israel's government to take a set of specific steps to facilitate aid to Gaza, where nearly half the population are suffering catastrophic hunger.
He says that progress is being made on the temporary port in Gaza that would allow aid to arrive by sea - and that Israel also plans on opening a major humanitarian aid crossing into hard-hit northern Gaza.
"Even as we're working with relentless determination to get the ceasefire that brings the hostages home, we also have to be focused on people in Gaza who are suffering in this crossfire of Hamas' making. And so we're focus on getting them the assistance they need, the food, medicine, the water, the shelter is also very much on our minds and in the work that we're doing."
The ongoing war in Gaza has continued to erode support for Israel across the world.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro has announced he will break diplomatic relations with Israel over its actions in Gaza.
The left-wing president has heavily criticised Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and requested to join South Africa's case accusing Israel of genocide at the International Court of Justice.
He says this is a historic moment.
"(We cut diplomatic ties) because of them having a government, having a genocidal president. I believe that today all of humanity, in the streets, by the millions, agrees with us and we agree with them. It cannot be, the times of genocide, of the extermination of an entire people can't return before our eyes, before our passivity. If Palestine dies, humanity dies and we will not let it die as we will not let humanity die."
Within the United States, there have been rolling protests at university campuses across the country.
Police are present on campus at the University of California in Los Angeles and the University of Texas in Dallas.
In New York City, Columbia University has asked authorities to remain on campus until May 17, two days after its graduation ceremony, following the arrest of around 300 pro-Palestinian demonstrators.
Republican Presidential Candidate Donald Trump has labelled the police raid on the protesters 'beautiful to watch'.
"To every college president, I say - remove the encampments, immediately vanquish the radicals and take back our campuses for all of the normal students who want a safe place from which to learn. But when you see that video of raging lunatics and Hamas sympathisers at Columbia and other colleges. No, but when you look at it, I said, where did these people come from? I don't know people like that. I mean, I deal with a lot of people, where do they come from?"
But this faculty member, Corinna Mullin, says it was anything but beautiful.
"We were surrounded on all sides by hundreds of police officers. It felt like a military invasion. It was terrifying. Terrifying. I've never experienced anything like it before. There was an unnecessary and excessive use of force. Throughout the day, there had been chemical burns, broken bones, bruises. Not only students and workers, but also press had been targeted. During the raid, I personally witnessed several people thrown to the floor, beaten, brutalised by the police. I myself was also arrested along with hundreds of others."
The White House says it's carefully watching the unfolding protests, but doesn't support the demonstrations becoming violent.
Spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre says the students and staff have a right to demonstrate.
"Americans have the right to peacefully protest within the law. That is incredibly important. And we also have to condemn hate. We have to condemn anti-Semitism. That is something that this president believes."
