What's the plan? Israel escalates fighting as Gaza death toll rises

<p>It was a rare ray of hope amid three weeks of hell. In a deal brokered by Qatar and the US, Hamas has released two elderly hostages. But even then, some Israelis objected to the image of 85-year old Yocheved Lifshitz shaking the hand of one of her Hamas captors. They liked it even less when the lifelong Kibbutz resident blasted Israel's security lapses at a press conference hours later at the hospital where she was recovering in Tel Aviv. That said, she also provided a trove of information on the enemy.</p> <p>Last week it was missiles from Yemen intercepted from US warships. Now it's the US retaliating against <a href="https://www.france24.com/en/tag/iran/" class="gtm-add-suggested-tag">Iran</a>-aligned militias in Syria following attacks on US forces present both in <a href="https://www.france24.com/en/tag/syria/" class="gtm-add-suggested-tag">Syria</a> and Iraq as part of the fight against the IS group. On Wednesday, <a href="https://www.france24.com/en/tag/lebanon/" class="gtm-add-suggested-tag">Lebanon</a>'s al-Manar television put out a photo showing <a href="https://www.france24.com/en/tag/hezbollah/" class="gtm-add-suggested-tag">Hezbollah</a> leader <a href="https://www.france24.com/en/tag/hassan-nasrallah/" class="gtm-add-suggested-tag">Hassan Nasrallah</a> meeting the head of Palestinian <a href="https://www.france24.com/en/tag/islamic-jihad/" class="gtm-add-suggested-tag">Islamic Jihad</a> Ziyad al-Nakhalah and deputy head of <a href="https://www.france24.com/en/tag/hamas/" class="gtm-add-suggested-tag">Hamas</a>'s political bureau, Saleh al-Arouri.</p><p>It was the week where <a href="https://www.france24.com/en/tag/turkey/" class="gtm-add-suggested-tag">Turkey</a>'s president voiced fury at the bombing of Gaza and insisted he'd be staying away from Israel for the foreseeable future. <a href="https://www.france24.com/en/tag/recep-tayyip-erdogan/" class="gtm-add-suggested-tag">Recep Tayyip Erdogan</a> and 84 million other citizens <a href="https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20231026-erdogan-chal