The Jordan River is a winding, 200-plus-mile run to the east of Israel and the occupied West Bank. The sea is the glittering Mediterranean to its west. But a phrase about the space in-between, “from the river to the sea,” has become a battle cry with new power to roil Jews and pro-Palestinian activists in the aftermath of Hamas’ deadly rampage across southern Israel on Oct. 7 and Israel’s bombardment of Gaza. “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” chanted pro-Palestinian activists from London to Rome and Washington. Many Palestinian activists say it’s a call for freedom after 75 years of Israeli statehood. Jews hear a demand for Israel’s destruction.

Thousands of Palestinians sheltering from the Israel-Hamas war at Gaza City’s main hospital are fleeing south Friday after several reported strikes in and around the compound overnight. They join a growing exodus of people escaping intense urban fighting in the north, including near other hospitals. The search for safety across Gaza has grown desperate as Israel intensifies its assault on the territory’s largest city. Gaza officials say more than 11,000 Palestinians have died during the war, which was triggered by a Hamas incursion of Israel that led to some 1,400 deaths.

Thousands of Palestinians are fleeing northern Gaza as Israel’s military pushes deeper into dense urban neighborhoods in its battle with Hamas militants. Officials in the besieged enclave said Friday the Palestinian death toll has surpassed 11,000 people. The World Health Organization says 20 of Gaza’s 36 hospitals aren’t functioning. The search for safety in Gaza is growing more desperate as combat intensifies. Residents who escaped to the south and Palestinian health officials reported strikes in and around Gaza City’s main hospital overnight. Tens of thousands of people are sheltering there. Israel said at least one strike was the result of a misfired Palestinian rocket. More than two-thirds of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million have fled their homes.

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell has been increasingly isolated on foreign policy among his GOP colleagues, a growing number of whom have distanced themselves as a matter of course from U.S. involvement abroad -- and particularly on Ukraine. Their sentiment has partially been shaped by former President Donald Trump, who railed against “forever wars." The Republican dissension over the issue has become a pivotal moment in U.S. politics that has put the Ukraine aid and America’s role in the world in doubt. The White House is pushing Congress to pass a massive foreign aid package for both Ukraine and Israel’s war against Hamas. Failing to pass the aid would be “a disaster for Ukraine and disaster for us,” McConnell said.

The White House says President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping will discuss a range of regional and global issues when they meet next week in the San Francisco Bay area. Biden and Xi will be in San Francisco for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. China’s Foreign Ministry confirms Xi will attend APEC at Biden’s invitation and will take part in the U.S.-China summit. Biden and Xi have no shortage of difficult issues to address in their first engagement in a year. Taiwan’s upcoming election, differences over U.S. export controls on advanced technology, North Korea, the Israel-Hamas war and more are expected to be on the agenda.

A 96-year-old Korean War veteran from Minnesota has been waiting for 70 years for a Purple Heart medal. The Army keeps turning him down. He has provided documents to back up his assertion that he was wounded in combat in June 1951. His doctors at the Department of Veterans Affairs accepted his account that the shrapnel in his thigh came from a mortar attack. But an Army review board has issued what it called a final rejection in April, citing insufficient documentation. Meyer sued the Army in September. Now the Office of the Sergeant Major of the Army says it’s going to take another look.