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Israel conducted a major airstrike in southern Gaza on Saturday morning that it said had targeted a top Hamas military commander who is considered one of the architects of the Oct. 7 attack on Israel, according to six senior Israeli officials. The Gaza Health Ministry said that 90 people had been killed in the assault, half of them women and children, and 300 wounded. The commander targeted in the attack, Muhammad Deif, is the leader of the Qassam Brigades, Hamas’s military wing. He is the second most senior Hamas figure in Gaza, after its leader in the territory, Yahya Sinwar. As of Saturday night, the status of Mr. Deif and Rafah Salameh, the leader of Hamas forces in Khan Younis, who Israeli officials say was also targeted in the attack, was unclear.

Persons: Israel, Muhammad Deif, Yahya Sinwar, Khan Younis Organizations: Gaza Health Ministry, Qassam Locations: Gaza, Israel, Deif, Rafah

They hide under residential neighborhoods, storing their weapons in miles of tunnels and in houses, mosques, sofas — even a child’s bedroom — blurring the boundary between civilians and combatants. They emerge from hiding in plainclothes, sometimes wearing sandals or tracksuits before firing on Israeli troops, attaching mines to their vehicles, or firing rockets from launchers in civilian areas. They rig abandoned homes with explosives and tripwires, sometimes luring Israeli soldiers to enter the booby-trapped buildings by scattering signs of a Hamas presence. Through eight months of fighting in Gaza, Hamas’s military wing — the Qassam Brigades — has fought as a decentralized and largely hidden force, in contrast to its Oct. 7 attack on Israel, which began with a coordinated large-scale maneuver in which thousands of uniformed commandos surged through border towns and killed roughly 1,200 people.

Persons: — Locations: Gaza, Israel

CNN —At least 71 Palestinians have been reported killed in an Israeli strike on a displacement camp in southern Gaza which Israel said targeted Hamas’ military chief, who was an alleged mastermind of the October 7 attacks. “I cannot describe to you the magnitude of the tragedy,” one resident told CNN. Mohammed Deif – the leader of Qassam Brigades, Hamas’ military wing – was the figure targeted, an Israeli security official told CNN. Palestinians gather near damage caused by an Israeli strike at a tent camp in Al-Mawasi area on Saturday. A 2014 Israel strike killed his wife, seven-month-old son and three-year-old daughter.

Persons: Mohammed Deif –, Qassam, Deif, Khan Younis, Rafe Salama, Mohammed Salem, “, ”, Hammoud, Aida Hamdi, Salama, Trevor Ball, Yoav Gallant, Herzi Halevi, Mohammed Diab Ibrahim al, Masri, El Deif Organizations: CNN, ’, Gaza Health Ministry, Nasser, Boeing, US, Israeli, Shin, Reuters Locations: Gaza, Israel, Al, Kuwait, Khan, Jerusalem, Tel Aviv

The Israeli military said this week that it had concluded its operation there. Palestinians returning to Shajaiye, after heeding a call by Israel to evacuate, said the neighborhood was so devastated it was uninhabitable. “The current situation in Shajaiye today is tragic,” said Ahmed Sidu, a photographer, who went back to his home as soon as he heard that Israeli forces had pulled out. Palestinian Civil Defense said on Friday that their crews began recovering bodies from Tal Al-Hawa and the Al-Sinaa neighborhoods, as they said the Israeli forces appeared to be leaving those areas as well. The Israeli military did not confirm its forces were also pulling out of those areas.

Persons: ”, Ahmed Sidu, Hamas’s, Ayman Showadeh, Showadeh, Karam Hassan, ” Mr, Hassan, Mr, Sidu, Tal, Tal Al, “, Juliette Touma, Rawan Sheikh Ahmad Organizations: Hamas, Palestinian Civil Defense, Credit, Agence France, United Nations, UNRWA, Troops Locations: Shajaiye, Gaza City, Israel, Gaza, Al, Rimal

☆ Hamas Official: ‘We’re Not Obstinate’ in Cease-Fire Talks on Gaza
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-12 | by ( Adam Rasgon | Julian E. Barnes | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

For nearly two decades, Hamas has been in charge of governing Gaza, overseeing its border crossings, schools and hospitals. But after nine months of a ruinous war with Israel, the militant group is now expressing readiness to give up civilian governance in Gaza, albeit without dismantling its military wing. The overture by Hamas, while most likely a nonstarter for Israel, is meant to signal to the international community Hamas’s apparent readiness to make some concessions to enable the rebuilding of Gaza. It also arrives against the backdrop of ongoing cease-fire negotiations, in which Hamas has shown some flexibility on the language in a proposed deal. “First and foremost, we want the Palestinian people in Gaza to recover from this war,” Husam Badran, a senior Hamas official, said in an interview at an unmarked building in the Qatari capital, Doha.

Persons: Husam Organizations: Hamas Locations: Gaza, Israel, Doha

After two weeks of intense battles between Hamas militants and Israeli troops in the Gaza City neighborhood of Shajaiye, residents and rescue workers combed through the wreckage on Friday, a landscape of flattened buildings strewed with dozens of bodies. “The scale of destruction is immense.”More than nine months into the war in Gaza, Israeli troops are returning to areas they had previously conquered and encountering strong resistance from Hamas fighters. The offensive in Shajaiye was part of a wider Israeli effort to clamp down on a renewed Hamas insurgency in Gaza City, the military said. And Israel said on Friday that it had “eliminated” the deputy commander of Hamas’s Shajaiye Battalion, Ayman Showadeh. He had been “a key operative” at the group’s operations headquarters and had been involved in directing the Oct. 7 Hamas-led attack that set off the war in Gaza, Israel said.

Persons: ”, Karam Hassan, Israel, Hamas’s, Ayman Showadeh Organizations: Hamas Locations: Gaza City, Shajaiye, Gaza, Israel

☆ Netanyahu’s Resistance to a Deal Narrows Hopes for Gaza Cease-Fire: Live Updates
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-08 | by ( Patrick Kingsley | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

But Mr. Netanyahu’s statement on Sunday night dampened those expectations, since it appeared to lessen the chances of a compromise with Hamas over the length and permanence of the cease-fire. Mr. Netanyahu’s grip on power relies on the support of two far-right parties opposed to any agreement that would leave Hamas in power in Gaza. “The efforts of the military in Gaza may help him get more from Hamas,” Mr. Shtrauchler said. Additionally, Mr. Netanyahu may be trying to stave off the collapse of his coalition until the end of July, when Parliament goes on recess. “He’s trying to create room for maneuver — and for that, he needs time,” Mr. Shtrauchler said.

Persons: Benjamin Netanyahu, Critics, —, “, ” Yair Lapid, Benjamin Netanyahu doesn’t, ” Ben Caspit, Mr, Netanyahu, Nadav Shtrauchler, ” Mr, Shtrauchler, “ He’s, Gabby Sobelman Organizations: News, Hamas, Analysts, Mr Locations: Israel, Gaza, Cairo, Qatar, Rafah, Rehovot

☆ Israel says its operation in Rafah is ‘limited’. Fighting there has left parts of it unrecognizable
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-07 | by ( Jeremy Diamond | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

But CNN cannot independently verify his claims: Israel has barred foreign journalists from entering Gaza independently and our only access is via embeds with the Israeli military. The area was seized by the Israeli military, which says it has uncovered dozens of tunnel shafts as well as rocket launchers used to fire rockets into Israel. He won’t say exactly how long Israeli forces will need to occupy this corridor, but says it could be weeks or months. Jeremy Diamond/CNNHagari also says Israeli forces killed more than 900 Hamas fighters in Rafah and are close to defeating Hamas’s Rafah brigade. As for the Rafah ground operation, Hagari cannot say whether it will be the last in Gaza.

Persons: Humvees, I’ve, Khan Younis, ”, Daniel Hagari, Hagari, Jeremy Diamond, Israel, –, ” Hagari, CNN Hagari, Hamas’s, we’ll Organizations: CNN, Hamas, Hamas’s Rafah Locations: Rafah, Gaza’s, Israel, Gaza, Egypt

☆ Hamas’s Cease-Fire Proposal Includes a Familiar Sticking Point
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-06 | by ( Ronen Bergman | Aaron Boxerman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Hamas has softened its position in its latest Gaza cease-fire proposal but is sticking to a key demand that has been a major hurdle to a deal, according to two senior officials from countries involved in the negotiations. That has dampened prospects for an imminent agreement, even as U.S. and Israeli officials have expressed optimism now that the talks are moving forward after weeks of deadlock. Hamas presented a counterproposal on Wednesday. In effect, Hamas wants to ensure that it does not turn over many of the hostages only for Israel to restart the war, one of the officials said. Both senior officials spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.

Organizations: Hamas Locations: Gaza, Israel

CNN —Hamas is ready to reconsider its insistence that Israel commit to a permanent ceasefire in Gaza before signing an agreement that would usher in a temporary truce and begin a process to release hostages still held in Gaza, a senior Hamas official confirmed to CNN. The change in Hamas’ position was first reported by Reuters, and comes amid intensified efforts towards reaching an agreement. The group has long demanded Israel agree to a permanent ceasefire before signing any deal, terms Israel sees as unacceptable. Hamas would instead accept that talks on reaching a permanent ceasefire would take place throughout the first phase of any deal, which would last six weeks, the official told CNN. Efforts to reach a deal between Hamas and Israel have stalled for months.

Persons: Israel, ’, –, Netanyahu, David Barea, Netanyahu –, Israel won’t, Joe Biden Organizations: CNN, Hamas, Reuters, Minister’s Locations: Gaza, Israel, Qatar

☆ Israeli Leaders to Discuss Hamas Response on Cease-Fire Proposal
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-04 | by ( Aaron Boxerman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Israeli ministers were set to meet Thursday evening to discuss Hamas’s response to a new proposal for a truce in Gaza and the release of hostages, as mediators sought to revive dormant talks for a cease-fire after nearly nine months of war. On Wednesday, the Israeli government said in a statement that it was examining Hamas’s response to the latest proposal and would send its own reply to mediators. The discussions are based on a three-stage framework deal publicized by President Biden in late May and endorsed by the United Nations Security Council. An Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said on Wednesday night that wide gaps between the sides remained but that Hamas’s response left potential to move forward in the talks. However, wide gaps remained on major issues, and the talks had been largely at a standstill since June.

Persons: Biden Organizations: United Nations Security Council Locations: Gaza, Israel, Qatar, Egypt, United States

☆ Israel Orders Evacuations as Strikes Pound Gaza City
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-27 | by ( Aaron Boxerman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +4 min

Top NewsIsrael ordered people in part of eastern Gaza City to evacuate on Thursday as Palestinian officials and residents reported heavy strikes and multiple casualties. Image A wounded Palestinian boy receiving treatment at a hospital in Gaza City on Thursday. Shajaiye, one of Gaza City’s largest neighborhoods, is home to a battalion that is considered one of the strongest in Hamas’s military wing. In December, nine Israeli soldiers were killed there on what the Israeli military reported was one of the deadliest days of the war for its forces. In recent months, some residents had returned to Shajaiye as Israeli forces turned their focus to southern Gaza.

Persons: Kan, Benjamin Netanyahu, Dawoud Abu Alkas, Mohammed Qraiqea, ”, Ghazi Hamad, Shajaiye, Mohammad al, Bahrawi, “, God’s, Myra Noveck Organizations: News Israel, Civil Defense, ., Human Rights Monitor, Hamas, Ahli Arab Hospital Locations: Gaza City, Gaza, Israel, Shajaiye, Mohammad, Ahli, Jerusalem

☆ Opinion | Jamaal Bowman’s Political Malpractice
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-24 | by ( Michelle Goldberg | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

Now Israel’s champions, many of whom have never been comfortable with Bowman, are striking back, capitalizing on a political environment transformed by Oct. 7. Bowman’s challenger is the Westchester County executive, George Latimer, who refuses to criticize Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, putting Latimer not just to Bowman’s right but also to the right of President Biden and Senator Chuck Schumer, the majority leader. I think Sanders was exaggerating, but the contest is probably the most important congressional primary this year. It’s setting a precedent for big money interference in local politics and tearing at the longtime progressive alliance between Black people and Jews. There is something deeply admirable about his refusal to subordinate his values to political expediency.

Persons: Jamaal Bowman, Bowman, Eliot Engel, George Latimer, Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel, Latimer, Biden, Chuck Schumer, Emerson, —, Bernie Sanders, Sanders, Hamas’s, he’s Organizations: Democrat, Westchester County, American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s, Israel Locations: New York’s, Israel, Westchester, Vermont, Black, Bronx, America, Gaza

☆ Warnings signs for Biden’s Jewish support as war in Gaza drags on and antisemitism rises
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-23 | by ( Edward-Isaac Dovere | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +14 min

Still, conversations about a possible drift toward Donald Trump, though, are evident in the several Jewish elected Democratic leaders who grimaced and ducked when asked by CNN to discuss their sense of Jewish support for Biden. Talking with Jewish voters in Michigan, “I’ve had a couple of people say point blank, ‘How could any Jew vote for a Democrat?’” said Troy Zukowski, the West Michigan chair of the Michigan Jewish Democrats. The president does have some key Jewish voices of support in important places. Trump’s support among Jewish voters in 2020, at 30% according to Associated Press exit polls, was the highest for a Republican presidential candidate in decades. The expected central theme of that effort, according to one of the people involved, will be: As a Jewish American, do you feel safer than you did four years ago?

Persons: Joe Biden’s, –, Biden, Joe ”, Kamala Harris, Doug Emhoff, Donald Trump, grimaced, megadonor Haim Saban, “ I’ve, ’ ”, Troy Zukowski, “ I’m, I’m, Alejandro Mayorkas, Neera Tanden, Jon, John Kirby, Kirby, Joe Biden, ”, Josh Shapiro, “, Shapiro, Pharaoh, Hitler, Kim Jong, Benjamin Netanyahu’s, Emhoff, Ben Stiller, chitchatting, Alex Edelman’s, Israel, sickening ”, Trump, Morgan Ortagus, Haile Sofer, Jake Sullivan, Netanyahu, Lee Zeldin, ” Zeldin, Rashida, Harris, Biden “, ” Emhoff, who’s, antisemites, Andrew Weinstein, it’s, “ He’s, I’ve, Joe Organizations: Washington CNN, CNN, Jewish, Democratic, White, Biden, Democrat, Michigan Jewish Democrats, Trump, Homeland, National Security, Justice, NSC, Pennsylvania, American, Israel, Nova Music, Wing, House, Jewish voters Trump, State Department, Jewish Democratic Council of America, Associated Press, Republican, United Arab Emirates, Capitol, GOP, Democratic Party, Biden ’, Republican Jewish Coalition, Naval Observatory Locations: Israel, Pennsylvania , Michigan, Georgia, Wisconsin, Arizona, Michigan, West Michigan, Palestine, president’s State, Jerusalem, Gaza, Lower, Manhattan, Brooklyn, America, Charlottesville , Virginia, Germany, Washington, Bahrain, New York, Detroit, American, Charlottesville, ”, Florida

☆ Israel-Gaza war: He saved the life of Hamas’s leader. Then they murdered his nephew
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-20 | by ( Sophie Tanno | Tal Alroy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

“I know the person who planned and conceived and initiated this criminal attack,” Bitton told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour. Bitton blames Sinwar for the murder of his nephew, who was killed after Hamas militants raided his home on October 7. In 1989, he was sentenced to four life sentences in Israel for the abduction and killing of two Israeli soldiers. Nir Oz was one of several kibbutzim that bore the brunt of Hamas’ attack on October 7, with many residents murdered or taken hostage. He doesn’t care.”With this in mind, Bitton believes that Israel made a mistake by not creating an alternative to Hamas’s rule, which could have undermined Sinwar’s power.

Persons: CNN — Hamas’s, Israel, Yuval Bitton, “, ” Bitton, CNN’s Christiane Amanpour, –, – Yahya Sinwar, Bitton, Sinwar, Tamir Adar, Yuval Bitton “, ” Sinwar, Khan, ”, Gilad Shalit, Gilad, Nir Oz, Tamir, Bitton –, Bitton's Organizations: CNN, Hamas, Israel, IDF Locations: Gaza, Nafha, Israel

☆ AIPAC Unleashes a Record $14.5 Million Bid to Defeat a Critic of Israel
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-20 | by ( Nicholas Fandos | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The onslaught by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee and allied groups has made good on a warning delivered to lawmakers like Mr. Now, in barely a month, an AIPAC-affiliated super PAC has spent $14.5 million — up to $17,000 an hour — on the race, filling television screens, stuffing mailboxes and clogging phone lines with caustic attacks. With days to go, the expenditures have already eclipsed what any interest group has ever spent on a single House race. Pro-Israel groups are using the same approach elsewhere, most notably in an August primary in St. Louis. AIPAC’s super PAC, the United Democracy Project, has already spent $1.5 million there to take out Representative Cori Bush, who is a Black member of the House’s left-wing “squad” like Mr.

Persons: Jamaal Bowman, Bowman, St . Louis, AIPAC’s, Cori Bush Organizations: Israel, Democratic, American Israel Public Affairs Committee, United Democracy Locations: New York City, Israel, St .

☆ Is Hamas Bound by International Law? What to Know.
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-20 | by ( Amanda Taub | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Since the attacks of Oct. 7, every legal expert I have asked has shared one conclusion: Hamas’s attacks on civilians that day, including killing, torture, and hostage-taking, were war crimes. Tom Dannenbaum, a Tufts University professor, told me just days after the attack that there was “no question” Hamas’s attack had involved multiple war crimes. Last month, the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court announced that he was seeking warrants for the arrest of three Hamas leaders on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity relating to the Oct. 7 attack on Israel, as well as the hostage-taking that followed. Last week, a U.N. commission concluded that there was credible evidence that members of Hamas and other armed Palestinian groups committed war crimes on Oct. 7, including by killing civilians, carrying out torture, and taking hostages. The commission also found evidence of Israeli war crimes, including the use of starvation of civilians as a weapon of war.

Persons: Tom Dannenbaum, ” Organizations: Tufts University, Criminal Court Locations: Israel

☆ Netanyahu’s Growing Rift With Israel’s Military Raises Questions About Gaza War’s Future
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-20 | by ( Aaron Boxerman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Growing divisions between Israel’s military commanders and the civilian government over the war in Gaza spilled into the open this week, raising questions about how Israel will conduct the next phase of the war. “If we do not bring something else to Gaza, at the end of the day, we will get Hamas,” he said in an interview with Israel’s Channel 13. But in order to reach a situation in which we really weaken Hamas, that is the path.”Admiral Hagari also appeared to criticize Mr. Netanyahu’s oft-repeated call for “absolute victory” over the Palestinian armed group. “The idea that it is possible to destroy Hamas, to make Hamas vanish — that is throwing sand in the eyes of the public,” he said. That prompted a swift rejoinder from Mr. Netanyahu’s office, which said that the Israeli cabinet had set “the destruction of Hamas’s military and governing capabilities” as one of the war’s aims, and that the Israeli military was “of course committed to this.”

Persons: Benjamin Netanyahu, Netanyahu, ’, Daniel Hagari, ”, Hagari, Mr, Netanyahu’s Organizations: Israel’s, Palestinian Locations: Gaza, Israel

☆ Israeli military official says Hamas cannot be destroyed, as rift with Netanyahu widens
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-20 | by ( Christian Edwards | Tamar Michaelis | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Hagari’s comments prompted a terse response from Netanyahu’s office, which said Israel’s security cabinet “has defined the destruction of Hamas’ military and governing capabilities” as one of the aims of its war in Gaza. Palestinians inspect damage after an Israeli strike on the Nuseirat camp in central Gaza, June 9, 2024. Shaul Golan/Pool/ReutersHagari’s comments sparked the latest in a growing series of public disagreements between Israel’s government and military. Last weekend, the IDF announced a daily “tactical pause” of military activity along a route in southern Gaza to allow aid to be distributed – a decision that rankled Netanyahu, an Israeli official told CNN. The IDF’s decision to implement tactical pauses also drew fierce criticism from the increasingly rancorous far-right wing of Netanyahu’s coalition.

Persons: CNN —, Benjamin Netanyahu, “, Read, Daniel Hagari, Hagari’s, Hagari, Netanyahu, Eyad Baba, ” Hagari, David Mencer, ’, Mencer, Netanayhu, –, Shaul Golan, rankled Netanyahu, Itamar Ben, Gvir, ”, Yoav Gallant Organizations: CNN, Israel Defense Forces, Israel’s, IDF, Getty, Kan, National, Israeli Locations: Gaza, United States, Israel, AFP, Hamas, Givatayim, Rafah

☆ Middle East Crisis Israeli Military Says Hezbollah’s Strikes Risk ‘Wider Escalation’
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-17 | by ( Mike Ives | Randy Pennell | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +7 min

The change did not mean a cessation of fighting in the southern Gaza Strip, that statement said, adding that the campaign in the southernmost city of Rafah was continuing. The whipsaw statements appeared to reflect the competing pressures facing Mr. Netanyahu, as he juggles demands from the Biden administration and elsewhere around the globe with those of his own hawkish government. But Mr. Netanyahu insinuated that he did not learn of the plans until Sunday morning. Image Children waiting for food in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, on Saturday. Credit... Haitham Imad/EPA, via Shutterstock“It’s classic Bibi,” said Amos Harel, the military affairs analyst for the left-leaning Haaretz newspaper, referring to Mr. Netanyahu by his nickname.

Persons: Benjamin Netanyahu, Netanyahu, Biden, —, Khan Younis, Haitham Imad, Bibi, ”, Amos Harel, ” Mr, Harel, Shani Sasson, Ms, Sasson, “, Eid, Omar Al, Yoav Gallant, Gadi, Benny Gantz, Mr, Eisenkot, Netanyahu’s, Itamar Ben, Gvir, Ben, Waseem Mahmoud, Amir Levy, Bezalel Smotrich, Gabby Sobelman Organizations: Military, ., “, Mr, Cogat, United Nations Security Council, Agence France, International Criminal, Israel’s, Hamas Locations: Gaza, Rafah, Khan, Israel, Gaza City, The Hague, Egypt, Beit Jann

☆ Israeli Daytime Pause in Combat Appears to Take Hold in Gaza
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-17 | by ( Shashank Bengali | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +7 min

The change did not mean a cessation of fighting in the southern Gaza Strip, that statement said, adding that the campaign in the southernmost city of Rafah was continuing. The whipsaw statements appeared to reflect the competing pressures facing Mr. Netanyahu, as he juggles demands from the Biden administration and elsewhere around the globe with those of his own hawkish government. But Mr. Netanyahu insinuated that he did not learn of the plans until Sunday morning. Image Children waiting for food in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, on Saturday. At least 10 Israeli soldiers were killed in combat this weekend and an 11th died of wounds sustained days earlier.

CNN —The Biden administration on Friday imposed sanctions on an Israeli group for disrupting humanitarian convoys headed to Gaza. The sanctions against the organization are the latest punitive measure taken under an executive order targeting those perpetrating violence in the West Bank. “They also have damaged aid trucks and dumped life-saving humanitarian aid onto the road. President Joe Biden signed an executive order earlier this year allowing sanctions on those causing West Bank violence. The order has been used to roll out sanctions on Israeli settlers attacking Palestinians in recent months.

Persons: CNN —, Biden, Matthew Miller, “, ”, Miller, Joe Biden, CNN’s Clarissa Ward, Brent Swails Organizations: CNN, US Treasury Department, US State Department, West Bank, ”, Biden, Reuters Locations: Gaza, Kerem, Jordan, Hebron, Israel

Beirut, Lebanon CNN —The fate of the 120 remaining hostages in Gaza is crucial to any deal to end the protracted and bloody conflict between Israel and Hamas. But a senior Hamas official has told CNN that “no one has an idea” how many of them are alive, and that any deal to release them must include guarantees of a permanent ceasefire and the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza. People walk among debris, aftermath of Israeli strikes at the area, where Israeli hostages were rescued on Saturday, in Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, on Sunday, June 9. Hamas' Gaza chief Yahya Sinwar attends a meeting with members of Palestinian groups in Gaza City on April 13, 2022. Israel believes that more than 70 hostages of the more than 100 who are still held in Gaza to be alive.

Persons: Osama Hamdan, Yahya Sinwar, Antony Blinken, Sinwar, Hamdan, Joe Biden, Blinken, ” Blinken, Abed Khaled, ”, Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, Netanyahu “, Jack Guez, ” Sinwar, Ali Jadallah, Netanyahu, “, … Organizations: Lebanon CNN, Hamas, CNN, NBC, ”, Wednesday, United Nations Security, Reuters, White, Israel Defense Forces, European Union, Anadolu Agency, Getty, Israel, Wall, IDF Locations: Beirut, Lebanon, Gaza, Israel, Lebanese, Doha, Israeli, Jerusalem, AFP, United Kingdom, Hamas, Gaza City, American

☆ Why a Gaza Cease-Fire Is So Elusive
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-13 | by ( Isabel Kershner | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel called Hamas’s response to the latest peace proposal for Gaza “negative.” Hamas insisted it was dealing with it “positively.”Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken, speaking in Qatar, said Hamas had demanded changes, some of which were “workable” and some not. A Hamas official told an Arabic television channel that the group had not raised any new ideas, and that Mr. Blinken saw things through an Israeli lens and “speaks Hebrew.”The Biden administration has pledged to keep working with the Qatari and Egyptian mediators to bridge the gaps. But after days of intensive diplomacy in the region, a monthslong effort to end the war in Gaza seems as stuck as ever, as each side clings stubbornly to maximalist demands unacceptable to the other. Asked at the Group of 7 summit meeting in Italy if he still thought a deal could be reached, President Biden said, “I haven’t lost hope, but it’s going to be tough.”

Persons: Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel, Antony J, Blinken, ”, Biden, “ Organizations: Qatari, Group Locations: Gaza, Qatar, Italy

☆ Middle East Crisis U.S. Says It Is Trying to Bridge Gaps on Gaza Truce
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-13 | by ( Aaron Boxerman | Erica L. Green | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +4 min

But after more than eight months of war in Gaza, Israel and Hamas still appear to be far apart on an agreement. On Tuesday, Hamas issued a formal response to the cease-fire proposal to Qatari and Egyptian mediators, which officials in the Palestinian armed group said included some amendments. In the second phase, both sides would declare a permanent cease-fire, Israeli forces would withdraw from Gaza, and more hostage-for-prisoner exchanges would take place. Mr. Biden described the proposal as an Israeli initiative, and Israeli officials confirmed it was approved by the country’s top leadership. Asked about the ambiguous Israeli public stance, Mr. Sullivan said he could confirm that Israel stood behind the proposal.

Persons: Jake Sullivan, Biden, Mr, Sullivan, Israel, Hamas’s, Benjamin Netanyahu, Netanyahu’s, Farnaz Fassihi Organizations: U.S, Hamas, United Nations Security, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps, Revolutionary Guard Locations: Egypt, Qatar, Israel, Gaza, Italy, Hamas, United States

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