The Latest | Israel marks memorial day, as hundreds of thousands flee Rafah assault

By The Associated Press

Israel’s leaders commemorated Memorial Day on Monday, a usually somber holiday that this year was almost entirely absorbed by the ongoing war in Gaza. At 11:00 A.M., sirens announced two minutes of silence, and a quadrant of four fighter planes then flew over Jerusalem and the surrounding areas. At a ceremony, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed once again to defeat Hamas, a promise he has made repeatedly during Israel’s brutal seven month war with the militant group. Some 300,000 Palestinians fled Rafah over the weekend as Israeli forces pushed deeper into the southern city, according to U.N. estimates, and Secretary of State Antony Blinken reiterated U.S. opposition to a major military assault on Rafah.