Israel-Hamas war rages, death toll soars in Gaza, but there's at least hope for new cease-fire talks

Israel's defense chief has said the war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip is focused on the southern city of Khan Younis, and warned it will take months to achieve the Israeli government's stated goal of destroying the Palestinian militant group. But there was rising hope Wednesday that cease-fire talks could soon be back underway, as Hamas' top political leader arrived in Egypt and Israel indicated it was willing to negotiate another pause in the fighting in exchange for Hamas freeing more hostages.  

Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas' top leader based at its political office in Qatar, arrived Wednesday in Cairo to meet Egypt's spy chief for a discussion on the "aggression in the Gaza Strip and other matters," according to a statement released by Hamas.