Israeli strikes pounded Gaza City overnight and into Sunday as ground forces battled Hamas militants near the territory's largest hospital, where health officials say thousands of medics, patients and displaced people are trapped with no electricity and dwindling supplies.

In a televised address on Saturday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected growing international calls for a cease-fire unless it includes the release of all 239 hostages captured by Hamas in the Oct. 7 attack that triggered the war, saying Israel was bringing its "full force" to the battle.

An Israeli drone strike has killed an Amal Movement fighter and wounded two others, according to a statement released by Amal, which is allied with Hezbollah.

Ali Daoud became the first Amal fighter to be killed in action since the fighting began on October 8, while Hezbollah has lost nearly 70 fighters during the past five weeks.

Israel's prime minister pushed back Saturday against calls from Western allies to do more to protect Palestinian civilians, as troops bombed and encircled Gaza's largest hospital where doctors said five patients died, including a premature baby, after the last generator ran out of fuel.

Israel has portrayed Shifa Hospital as Hamas' main command post, saying militants were using civilians as human shields there and had set up elaborate bunkers underneath it -- claims Hamas and Shifa staff deny. In recent days, fighting near Shifa and other hospitals in the combat zone of northern Gaza has intensified and supplies have run out.

Israel's prime minister pushed back Saturday against growing calls from Western allies to do more to protect Palestinian civilians, as troops closed in on Gaza's largest hospital that Israel claims is Hamas' main command post but still hosts thousands of patients and people seeking shelter.

Benjamin Netanyahu said the responsibility for any harm to civilians lies with Hamas, repeating long-standing allegations that the militant group uses civilians in Gaza as human shields. He said that while Israel has urged civilians to leave combat zones, "Hamas is doing everything it can to prevent them from leaving."

President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping will meet Wednesday in California for talks on trade, Taiwan and managing fraught U.S.-Chinese relations in the first engagement between the leaders of the world's two biggest economies in nearly a year, Biden administration officials said.

The White House has said for weeks that it anticipated Biden and Xi would meet on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in San Francisco, but negotiations went down to the eve of the gathering, which kicks off Saturday.

The United Nations humanitarian coordinator in Lebanon has said that the spillover of the Hamas-Israel war has already caused “significant damage” in Lebanon where Hezbollah and allied groups have been clashing with Israeli forces on the border for more than a month.

Imran Riza said in a statement Friday that there have been “concerning signs of escalating tensions” along the border.

Britney Spears' "The Woman in Me" remained the country's top-selling book in its second week of publication, although the pace of sales fell substantially.

The singer's memoir sold just over 132,000 copies last week, according to Circana, which tracks around 85% of hardcover and paperback sales. The week before "The Woman in Me" sold more than 400,000 physical copies.

Hezbollah said Friday that seven of its fighters have been killed, but didn't specify where they died other than to say that they were “martyred on the road to Jerusalem.”

A Hezbollah official and a Lebanese security official said the seven fighters were killed in neighboring Syria Friday morning. They spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.

Israel’s labor minister says Benjamin Netanyahu will have to call early elections right after the war.

Labor Minister Yoav Bentzur made the unusually public suggestion in remarks quoted Thursday by the Maariv daily.

Israel said it used one of its most advanced air and missile defense systems for the first time Thursday to intercept a missile launched toward Israel in the Red Sea region.

The system, known as the Arrow 3, is designed to intercept long-range missiles outside the atmosphere, according to a joint statement from Israel's military and Ministry of Defense.