On Friday, Hamas stated it had responded to a U.S.-backed Gaza ceasefire proposal in a “optimistic spirit,” a number of days after Trump stated Israel had agreed “to the mandatory circumstances to finalize” a 60-day truce. It has additionally stated it should free all of the hostages in trade for an finish to the conflict and the complete withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza.
However Netanyahu has known as for the complete elimination of Hamas and requested the group to give up, disarm, and go into exile — one thing it refuses to do.
Whereas he travels to Washington, a separate Israeli negotiating group traveled to Qatar on Sunday for oblique talks with Hamas and Netanyahu stated that they had clear directions to attain a ceasefire settlement underneath circumstances that Israel has accepted.
Inside Gaza, not less than 80 had been killed in Israeli strikes, Dr. Marwan Al-Hams, the Director of the enclave’s area hospitals, instructed NBC Information on Sunday. He added that the quantity was prone to improve because of the ongoing shelling and airstrikes on the Gaza Strip.
Greater than 56,000 individuals have been killed and 1000’s extra severely injured since Israel launched its offensive in Gaza following the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023 terror assaults, in keeping with well being officers within the enclave. Some 1,200 individuals had been killed and round 250 taken hostages that day.
Elsewhere, Israel on Sunday launched contemporary strikes in areas of Yemen managed by the Houthi militant group, focusing on ports in Hodeida, Ras Isa, and Saif, together with the industrial ship Galaxy Chief that they hijacked in 2023.
“These ports are utilized by the Houthi terrorist regime to switch weapons of the Iranian regime which are used to hold out terrorist plots towards the State of Israel and its allies,” an Israel Protection Forces spokesperson stated in a press release Sunday.
In a separate submit on X, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz stated the strikes had been a part of “Operation Black Flag,” including that the Iran-backed militant group would “proceed to pay a heavy worth for his or her actions.”
“The destiny of Yemen is similar because the destiny of Tehran,” Katz added, referring to the Iranian regime.
However a Houthi spokesperson downplayed the Israeli assault in a press release Monday, saying that the militant group’s air defenses had “efficiently countered” it by “utilizing regionally manufactured surface-to-air missiles.”
The assaults on the Iran-backed Houthis got here after Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei made his first public look because the 12-day conflict with Israel. Iranian state tv confirmed the Supreme Chief greeting worshippers at a mosque on Saturday.
