| Qatar’s PM is reportedly set to meet on Tuesday with U.S. State Secretary Rubio and special Mideast envoy Witkoff to discuss proposals for a cease-fire/hostage deal between Israel and Hamas. A Hamas delegation left for Cairo to review « new proposals » for a truce, a Hamas official told AFP. Qatari and Egyptian mediators submitted a new cease-fire proposal which would consist of a five-to-seven-year truce, a senior Palestinian official told the BBC. Medical officials in Gaza said 24 Palestinians have been killed across the Strip since Tuesday morning due to IDF strikes. |
| What happened today |
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| ■ HOSTAGES/CEASE-FIRE: Qatari PM Al Thani is expected to meet on Tuesday with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and special Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff in Washington D.C. to discuss proposals for a cease-fire/hostage release deal between Israel and Hamas, according to several Arab media reports. Israel’s security cabinet will convene on Tuesday evening to discuss the hostages, Israeli media outlets reported. Shin Bet head Ronen Bar is also set to attend the meeting. A Hamas delegation left for Cairo to discuss « new proposals » for a cease-fire, AFP reported, citing a senior official who said the delegation has left Doha and « will hold meetings with senior Egyptian officials to discuss new ideas. » The delegation is reportedly led by top Hamas negotiator Khalil al-Hayya and other senior officials. A senior Palestinian official told the BBC that Qatari and Egyptian mediators submitted a new cease-fire proposal which would consist of a five-to-seven-year truce and would see the release of all of the Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, the withdrawal of the IDF from Gaza and an end to the fighting. U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said that an official bipartisan Congressional delegation to the Middle East will visit Israel and Jordan later this week to meet with « senior officials » and discuss the Gaza cease-fire talks and the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gazans. When asked why cabinet members avoid hearing released hostages’ testimonies during a Knesset panel with hostages’ relatives, far-right lawmaker Simcha Rothman said that the surest way to return hostages from Gaza is by preventing their family members from meeting Israeli decision-makers. To explain himself, Rothman cited a 2012 Knesset committee report on Israel’s handling of captive and missing citizens, whose recommendations the government never adopted.« Forces in the area operate around the clock, and it’s hard not to be impressed by their determination to continue fighting. But even if some do believe resuming combat was the right move, it’s immediately clear to anyone who has been to the Gaza Strip that, despite different names, the operations are just more of the same… The hostages are also mentioned as a hackneyed phrase by all commanders, as they open by saying, ‘We are here for the hostages.’ None of them can point to one operation that was intended to benefit the hostages or hasten their return » – Yaniv Kubovich ■ GAZA: Medical officials in Gaza said 24 Palestinians were killed across Gaza since Tuesday morning due to IDF strikes, with a majority killed in southern areas. Five were killed in the Jabalya refugee camp, five were killed in a family home in the Al-Shati refugee camp and nine were killed in a residence in central Khan Yunis, the officials said. On Monday, U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders called to end U.S. military assistance to Israel in a post on X, writing that « it’s been 51 days since any humanitarian aid has entered Gaza. » Sanders noted Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz’s remarks that « no humanitarian aid will enter Gaza, » calling it a war crime. Katz responded on Tuesday, saying that « Israel is acting in full accordance with international law. The humanitarian condition in Gaza is constantly monitored, » and urged « the international community and relevant actors to guarantee that future aid bypasses Hamas. »« Gazans have recently begun receiving text messages offering to ‘consider opportunities to leave the Gaza Strip.’ One of these messages offered Palestinians in Nuseirat, a refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, to « schedule a meeting » at the Netzarim Corridor, south of Gaza City, on Tuesday between 9 A.M. and 2 P.M. local time. Residents wishing to evacuate would need to arrive at the area, controlled by the Israel Defense Forces, and remain in contact with ‘Captain Jalal’ on WhatsApp. The IDF said it was unaware of messages sent to Gazans, and the Shin Bet security service has yet to respond to a Haaretz inquiry on the matter » – Jack Khoury ■ QATARGATE: Police sought to extend the detention of Yonatan Urich and Eli Feldstein, two key suspects in the Qatargate investigation. Citing concerns over possible obstruction of justice and a risk to national security, police asked to extend Urich’s house arrest by 20 days and Feldstein’s by 21 days. After the court denied the request, police said they would appeal the decision to the district court, and the judge delayed his decision by 48 hours. ■ LEBANON: The IDF confirmed it had killed Hussein Atawi, a senior member of the Jama’a Islamiya organization, in a strike in southern Lebanon, calling him « a significant terrorist… who is also affiliated with the Hamas terrorist organization in Lebanon. » Later on Tuesday, the IDF said it struck and killed a Hezbollah commander in the Haniyeh area of southern Lebanon. ■ SYRIA: Syrian authorities have detained two senior Palestinian Islamic Jihad members, according to the group’s armed wing and a Syrian official. In a statement, the Al Quds Brigades said Khaled Khaled, who heads Islamic Jihad’s operations in Syria, and Yasser al-Zafari, who heads its organisational committee, had been in Syrian custody for five days. |
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| Israel declared war after Hamas killed at least 1,200 Israelisand wounded more than 3,300 on October 7. In Gaza, the Hamas-controlled health ministry reports that at least 51,240 Palestinians have been killed. Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad hold 59 hostages, soldiers and civilians, dead and alive, including foreign nationals. The war erupted after 10 months of an intense domestic political and social crisis, due to legislation promoted by the Netanyahu government aimed at dramatically weakening Israel’s judiciary and the prime minister’s corruption trial, amid an escalation of violence between West Bank Palestinians and Israeli settlers, the latter empowered by Israel’s most right-wing government ever. |
haaretz.com