Israel rebuffs allies’ calls to ‘pause’ Gaza assault in first open disagreement

By Dan Williams, Michelle Nichols and Andrew Gray (Reuters) - Israel is rejecting calls for respite in Gaza as its closest allies in the West have coalesced around the idea of "humanitarian pauses", or temporary stops to the bombardment. Growing international distress at the conditions for 2.3 million people trapped under the heaviest air strikes Israel has ever unleashed on the Mediterranean enclave led major powers this week to call on Israel to allow such pauses to get aid in and Israeli hostages held by Islamist militant group Hamas out. The issue has opened the first public split between ...