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TOPSHOT – A Palestinian boy carries a water canister in Beit Lahya in the northern Gaza Strip on May 4, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the militant group Hamas. (Photo by AFP)Credit: AFP
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Displaced Palestinian children stand in line before attending a class recently opened in a school used as a temporary shelter, in Beit Lahya in the northern Gaza Strip on May 4, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the militant group Hamas. (Photo by AFP)Credit: AFP
Israel says it will send team to Cairo only after Hamas officially agrees to truce proposal ■ Report: U.S. tells Qatar to expel Hamas leaders if they refuse Gaza cease-fire deal ■ Saudi outlet reports Hamas will accept Egypt’s cease-fire deal ■ CIA director in Cairo for meetings on Gaza conflict, Egyptian sources say ■ Israel issues Hamas one-week ultimatum to agree to deal before they invade Rafah ■ UN World Food Programme director says northern Gaza in ‘full-blown famine’
Israel says it will send team to Cairo only after Hamas officially agrees to truce proposal ■ Report: U.S. tells Qatar to expel Hamas leaders if they refuse Gaza cease-fire deal ■ Saudi outlet reports Hamas will accept Egypt’s cease-fire deal ■ CIA director in Cairo for meetings on Gaza conflict, Egyptian sources say ■ Israel issues Hamas one-week ultimatum to agree to deal before they invade Rafah ■ UN World Food Programme director says northern Gaza in ‘full-blown famine’
Ben-Gvir: ‘Netanyahu vows to refuse reckless deal; He knows well the price of breaking his commitment’
Israeli National Security Minister of the far-right Otzma Yehudit faction says Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is committed to refuse a “reckless” deal with Hamas and to a military operation in Gaza’s Rafah.
In a post on X, formerly Twitter, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said that he “congratulates” Netanyahu’s decision “not to send the Israeli delegation” to continued negotiations in Cairo.
“I hope he even keeps the other commitments he made to me in a meeting we held last week: ‘No’ to a reckless deal, ‘Yes’ to Rafah,” the minister added.
“The prime minister knows full well the price of not upholding these commitments,” Ben-Gvir warned.
Israeli organization to Netanyahu: ‘If you can’t stand the pressure – resign’
An organization affiliated with Israeli right-wing representing several family members of Israeli held in Gaza wrote a letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu calling on him to resign if he “can’t stand the pressure and instruct the IDF to win,” amid reports of progress in negotiations with Hamas and widespread protests across Israel calling for a hostage deal.
“The state of Israel was established to protect Jews from events that happened under your tenure. If you can’t prevent a repitition of such events – please allow the people of Israel to elect others who will,” the letter read.
Thousands protest across Israel against government, demand hostage deal
Protests against the government and in support of hostage release are taking place across Israel amid reports of a potential deal with Hamas.
Yehuda Cohen, the father of captured IDF soldier Nimrod Cohen, has spoken in the rally in Rehovot, in central Israel, where dozens rally. “It is no longer clear, six months in, if Hamas wants the hostages released to ensure its survival, or our terrible government wants to fail them to ensure its survival,” he said.
Demonstrators in Caesarea, Saturday.Credit: Rami Shllush
“There is now a deal on the table, that Hamas has signaled it will agree to,” said Einav Zangauker, whose son is held at the strip, on behalf of the families. She continued, saying that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “is once again trying to torpedo the deal, when he announces twice today while hiding under the guise of a ‘top political source,’ that Israel won’t agree to ending the war. Netanyahu is once again trying to torpedo the only chance we have to save the hostages,”
“It’s obvious that the ‘total victory’ as like the horizon, every time you get close to it, it moves further away,” said former Israeli Moshe (Bogie) Ya’alon who spoke at a rally outside Netanyahu’s private residence in Caesarea. “Clearly, this definition serves as a fantasy to the deranged messianists who allow your personal survival,” he continued, addressing the prime minister.
Far-right Israeli minister: ‘A surrender deal without victory is a disaster’
Far-right Israeli minister says a “deal of surrender which brings the end of the war without a total victory is a disaster,” amid reports of advancement toward a hostage deal with Hamas.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich added that “the Israeli government has only one prerogative – to win,” and urged the government to proceed with a planned operation in Gaza’s southern region of Rafah.
RECAP: Five Palestinians killed, Israeli officer wounded in West Bank operation; Thousands protest against Israeli gov’t, demand hostage deal
Here are the latest updates after 211 days of the war:
■ Thousands gathered across Israel to protest against the government and in support of hostage release are taking place across Israel amid reports of a potential deal with Hamas.
■ Forces of the military, Shin Bet and the police carried out an operation in the West Bank city of Tulkarm which lasted some 12 hours and resulted in the deaths of five Palestinians. The Israeli army reports that a police officer was severely wounded during the operation
■ Saudi publication Asharq news reports that Israel agrees to release jailed Palestinian leader Marwan Barghoutti as part of a deal with Hamas.
■ A senior Israeli official said that a delegation of Israeli officials will head to Egypt’s capital in case Hamas agrees to the current proposal for a hostage deal, allowing for the negotiations to advance.
■ According to a report by U.S. based Al-Monitor, officials say the U.S. State Department notified Congress of four Israeli military units that were subject to sanctions due to serious human rights violations but have since been remediated.
■ Minister Benny Gantz said that Hamas has not yet given an official answer to the Egyptian proposal for a hostage deal, and if Hamas accepts it, the war cabinet will meet to discuss the matter.
■ Qatar could close the political office of Hamas as part of a broader review of its role as a mediator in the war, according to an official familiar with the Qatari government’s reassessment.
■ An Israeli official replied to reports of Hamas’ acceptance of a hostage deal proposal, saying “We’re waiting anxiously to see Hamas’ final position. The information has not yet arrived, but in light of past experience, even if Hamas says it is following the outline, the small details and reservations it will present may dissolve the deal.”
Hostages’ families statement: ‘Netanyahu is trying to blow a deal once again’
Several families of hostages, who have announced they will release an emergency statement today at 20:30 Israel time as a response to Israel saying it won’t agree to end the war in exchange for a deal that would return all the hostages, have spoken in the Tel Aviv demonstration.
“There is now a deal on the table, that Hamas has signaled it will agree to. But Netanyahu, after Hamas’ signals, is once again trying to blow the deal, when he announces twice today while hiding under the guise of a ‘top political source,’ that Israel won’t agree to ending the war. Netanyahu is once again trying to torpedo the only chance we have to save the hostages,” said Einav Zangauker, whose son is held at the strip, on behalf of the forum.
Israeli National Security Advisor: ‘There have been more difficult times, don’t magnify the situation’
Israel’s National Security Advisor Tzachi Hanegbi commented on the state of affairs in Israel, saying that “there have been far more difficult times than these, people were slaughtered here not only on October 7,” while speaking on channel 12.
“There were times when we couldn’t send our children to school by bus. Don’t magnify what is happening,” Hanegbi said.
He also commented on Israelis which were displaced by the war from the country’s north, saying: “It’s true that this problem needs to be solved, and we will solve it. If we can’t bring the people back through an agreement with Hezbollah – that there is no Hezbollah within 10 kilometers of the border – we will bring them back through an intense military operation.”
National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi, October.Credit: Moti Milrod
Hanegbi said that proposals to allow citizens of Israel’s north to return is “not serious,” adding: “You’ll bring them back to their houses, hoping that the gamble pays off, and when they get killed by rockets and missilies you’ll ask ‘who was it that brought them back? Who was the prime minister that brought them back?'”
Israel-Hamas hostage negotiations hit critical juncture as Netanyahu’s statement jeopardizes progress | Analysis
Activists protest for a hostage release deal in Tel Aviv, this week.Credit: Itai Ron
Negotiations toward a hostage deal with Hamas reached a critical point this weekend.
The Egyptian and Qatari mediators – perhaps the American ones, too – bombarded Arab media outlets with optimistic forecasts in a bid to spur Israel and Hamas to commit themselves to a deal.
On Saturday, it remained unclear whether the Hamas delegation in Cairo will respond to the mediators positively or reservedly (“Yes, but…”).
The Biden administration, concerned about yet another failed effort, dispatched CIA chief William Burns to Cairo.
The Washington Post reported that as part of the efforts to salvage the negotiations, the U.S. demanded that Qatar expel Hamas leaders from its soil if the organization rejects the deal.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, however, quickly began responding to the optimistic reports on Saturday, issuing an announcement disseminated among Israeli media outlets.
Israeli army reports police officer seriously wounded in West Bank operation
The Israeli army reports that a police officer was severely wounded during an operation in the West Bank city of Tulkarm.
The officer is a member of the Police Special Anti-Terror Unit (Yamam) and was taken to a nearby hospital.
Forces of the military, Shin Bet and the police carried out an operation in Tulkarm which lasted some 12 hours and resulted in the deaths of five Palestinians.
