US national security adviser Jake Sullivan on Thursday rejected claims that Israel is not fully committed to the ceasefire proposal with Hamas outlined by US President Joe Biden.
“Israel has presented this proposal. It’s been on the table for some time. “Israel has not contradicted or backed down,” Sullivan said Thursday in Italy, where Biden was to attend the annual summit of Group of Seven leaders. “To this day they support the proposal.”
“I don’t think there is a contradiction in the Israeli position,” Sullivan added.
Sullivan reiterated that Hamas had responded by offering an amended proposal and said the goal is to “figure out how we work to close the remaining gaps and reach an agreement.”
Hamas requested numerous changes this week to a US-backed proposal, saying its “amendments” aim to ensure a permanent ceasefire and the complete withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza. The ceasefire proposal announced by Biden includes those provisions, but Hamas has expressed caution about whether Israel will implement the terms.
Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza has killed more than 37,100 people, according to the Gaza Office. Ministry of Health, which does not distinguish between combatants and civilians in its count. Palestinians confront widespread hunger because the war has largely cut off the flow of food, medicine and other supplies. UN agencies say more than a million people in Gaza could experience the highest level of hunger in mid-July.
Israel launched the war after Hamas attack on October 7in which militants swept into southern Israel, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping about 250.
At the moment:
— What are the main conflicting points in the ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas?
– Report by UN-backed experts cites crimes committed by Israeli forces and Palestinian militants starting 0ct. 7.
— Hezbollah promises intensify attacks against Israel after an airstrike kills a top commander.
— Blinken says some of Hamas’ proposed changes to a ceasefire plan in Gaza are viable and others are not.
— Yemen’s Houthi rebels launch a ship-based bomb attack on a Greek-owned ship in the Red Sea.
Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Gaza at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war
Here’s the latest:
BEIRUT – The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah said Thursday it attacked six Israeli military posts and bases with rockets and explosive drones, in a second day of attacks on northern Israel in retaliation for killing one of the group’s top commanders.
Cross-border attacks by Israel and Hezbollah have taken place almost daily since the war in Gaza began in October. This week’s escalation comes as some Israeli leaders have threatened all-out war to silence Hezbollah’s rocket fire, which has displaced tens of thousands of Israelis, and as Iran-backed Hezbollah seeks to exert pressure in support of its Palestinian ally Hamas during the back-and-forth war. -Negotiations on a ceasefire in Gaza are advancing.
Hezbollah said in a statement that it fired rockets at six Israeli posts on Thursday and simultaneously launched explosive drones at three other posts, including a major intelligence division in northern Israel.
The Israeli military said approximately 45 projectiles, including rockets and drones, were launched toward the Galilee and Golan Heights areas.
Israel’s Magen David Adom rescue service said two people were slightly injured by shrapnel in the Golan Heights.
The military said many of the projectiles were successfully intercepted by the Air Defense Joint, without giving an exact breakdown, while others hit and started forest fires. The military said it identified at least eight aerial targets – referring to drones – and six were intercepted.
Israel said its warplanes on Thursday bombed infrastructure used by Hezbollah in several locations in southern Lebanon.
Hezbollah fired more than 200 projectiles at Israel on Wednesday, according to the military, hours after an Israeli strike in southern Lebanon killed Taleb Sami Abdullah, the commander of the group’s Nasr Unit in charge of parts of southern Lebanon near from the Israeli border.
Hezbollah says it will not stop attacks until there is a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. The Arab world’s most powerful paramilitary force has been striking deeper inside Israel in recent weeks, introducing new and more advanced weaponry.
Israeli airstrikes on Lebanon have killed more than 400 people in the current round of fighting, most of them members of Hezbollah, but the dead also include more than 70 civilians and non-combatants, and tens of thousands have been displaced. of communities in the south. On the Israeli side, 15 soldiers and 10 civilians have been killed.
BAGHDAD – Iraq’s top diplomat expressed concern Thursday that Israel could intensify its military operations in Lebanon with knock-on effects that could reach his country.
“There are dangerous signs that there may be an attack on southern Lebanon and if this attack happens, it will affect the region and not only Lebanon,” Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein said after a meeting with Iraqi Foreign Minister Acting Iranian Foreign Minister, Ali Bagheri Kani, on his first visit to Baghdad since taking office. The two officials called for a ceasefire in Gaza.
Kani replaced former Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, who died in a helicopter crash on May 19 along with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and a delegation of other officials.
Iranian-backed militias in Iraq have launched drone attacks against targets in Israel and bases in Iraq and Syria hosting US troops since the outbreak of war in Gaza, where Israeli forces are fighting the Palestinian militant group Hamas. However, the most intense fighting outside Gaza has occurred on the Lebanese-Israeli border, where the Iranian-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah has been clashing with Israeli forces almost daily for more than eight months.
In recent weeks, these clashes have intensified and there are fears of a new escalation. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said earlier this month that Israel is “prepared for very intense action” along its northern border with Lebanon. If a broader conflict breaks out in Lebanon, Iraqi militias are expected to join their ally, Hezbollah, in the fight.
FASANO, Italy – U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan on Thursday rejected claims that Israel is not fully committed to the proposed ceasefire with Hamas that President Joe Biden outlined in late May in the House. White.
“Israel has presented this proposal. It’s been on the table for some time. “Israel has not contradicted or backed down,” Sullivan said Thursday in Italy, where Biden was to attend the annual summit of Group of Seven leaders. “To this day they support the proposal.”
“I don’t think there is a contradiction in the Israeli position,” Sullivan added.
Sullivan reiterated that Hamas had responded by offering an amended proposal and said the goal is to “figure out how we work to close the remaining gaps and reach an agreement.”
“The goal is to try to bring this to a conclusion as quickly as possible,” he told reporters.
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip – Tired after eight months of war, frustrated Palestinians displaced from their homes in Gaza said Wednesday they are cautiously waiting for a ceasefire.
Some are more skeptical than others, as previous moments of optimism have been dashed by differences between Israel and Hamas.
“We are psychologically tired,” said Etaf Abdel Bari, a displaced woman living in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza. “Did they negotiate a lot, without success? We are not a toy in their hands. Our sons, daughters and families murdered without a reason.
More than a million people have fled the Israeli invasion of the southern Gaza city of Rafah, scattering across southern and central Gaza into new tent camps or crowding into schools and homes.
“Every day there is a truce, there is no truce. We want a solution. We want to return to our homes,” said a displaced man, Salama Abu al-Qumbuz. “We are tired of this life, of sleeping on the street, of carrying water. Our lives have become very boring.”
The United Nations says more than a million people in Gaza face desperate hunger and do not have enough clean water.
Other Deir al-Balah residents took a more cynical view of the truce talks.
“I hope the war continues. There are no negotiations,” said Abu Jamil al-Maqadma. “The negotiations are false.”
DOHA, Qatar – US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday that mediators would continue trying to close a difficult ceasefire deal after Hamas proposed numerous changes to a U.S.-backed plan, some of which he said were “viable” and some of which were not.
The back-and-forth laid bare frustration over the difficulty of reaching an agreement that could end eight months of war that has decimated Gaza, killed tens of thousands of Palestinians and left dozens of Israeli hostages still languishing in militant captivity. Previous moments of optimism have been repeatedly thwarted by differences between the two sides.
He ceasefire proposal It has global support but has not been fully adopted by Israel or Hamas. Blinken did not explain what changes Hamas was seeking, but said the mediators (Qatar, Egypt and the United States) will continue trying to “close this deal.” He put the onus on Hamas, accusing it of changing its demands.
“Hamas has proposed numerous changes to the proposal that was on the table. …Some of the changes are feasible. Some are not,” Blinken told reporters in Qatar. “I think (differences) can be bridged, but that doesn’t mean they can be bridged because ultimately Hamas has to decide.”
The Palestinian militant group says the “amendments” are aimed at ensuring a permanent ceasefire and a complete withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza.
Those provisions are included in the proposal announced by US President Joe Biden, but Hamas has expressed caution about whether Israel will implement the terms. And although the United States says Israel has accepted the proposal, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has given contradictory statementssaying that Israel still intends to destroy Hamas.
The proposal’s three-phase plan would begin with a six-week ceasefire and the release of some hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. Israeli forces would withdraw from populated areas and Palestinian civilians would be allowed to return to their homes. Aid distribution would also increase.
At the same time, negotiations would begin on the second phase, which consists of achieving “the permanent end of hostilities” and the “complete withdrawal” of Israeli troops from Gaza in exchange for the release of all remaining hostages.
A major obstacle for both sides appears to be the negotiations for the second phase. The third phase would see the launch of a reconstruction plan for Gaza and the return of the remains of the deceased hostages.
This story originally appeared on ABCNews.go.com read the full story
