Blinken meets Netanyahu; Hamas says U.S. comments on deal are attempt to acquit Israel (2024)

Sabah al-Salem Haniyeh, Hamas Chief Ismail Haniyeh's sister, was released to house arrest after being arrested in April for incitement and sympathizing with a terror group.

Haniyeh is charged with sending messages to numerous contacts, including her brother, two days after Hamas attacked Israel on October 7. The messages contained "words of praise, sympathy and encouragement to the Hamas' actions and its part in the mass atrocities they committed."

Police in riot gear have arrived on the UCLA campus, where pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli protesters have cla

The clashes took place early Wednesday just outside a tent encampment, where pro-Palestinian protesters erected barricades and plywood for protection – and counter-protesters tried to pull them down.

The Lebanese newspaper Al Akhbar daily published the details of the Egyptian proposal for a cease-fire, as it was delivered to Hamas, with guarantees by Egypt, Qatar and the United States.

The wording of the proposal does not include an Israeli commitment not to return to the Gaza Strip, but "a return to ongoing quiet and the implementation of whatever is necessary to achieve a cease-fire."

According to the proposal, in the first phase, the IDF's activities in the Gaza Strip will be suspended for 40 days, during which the forces will withdraw from the populated areas and those close to the border with Israel, but not from the Netzarim corridor in the center of the Gaza Strip.

During this time period, three hostages will be released every three days, first women – including female soldiers, until the 33rd day. Israel will at the same timeframe release Palestinian prisoners according to a list that will be agreed upon by the parties.

On the seventh day of the deal, Hamas will submit a list of all the living hostages, except for the 33 that will be released in the first stage.

According to the proposal, for every female soldier that is released, Israel will release 40 Palestinian women prisoners, half of whom are sentenced to life and the other half whose remaining sentence does not exceed ten years.

For every man released – those sick, wounded and over 50-years-old – Israel will release 20 prisoners over 50, sick and wounded who have up to ten years left in prison. According to the proposal, any of the prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment can be sent abroad or to Gaza.

During this period of time, on the days when hostages are released, there will be no air traffic of IDF planes and drones in the Strip for eight to ten hours a day. It will also be agreed that Israel will allow all citizens to return to their areas of residence, give them full freedom of movement throughout the Strip and allow the entry of humanitarian aid.

On the 22nd day of the deal, after two-thirds of the hostages are released, Israel will also withdraw from the Netzarim corridor in the center of the Gaza Strip to the corridor closest to the border, and increase the flow of humanitarian aid to the north of the Strip, so that 500 trucks will be sent there, including 50 fuel trucks.

On the 34th day of the deal, the second phase will begin, and will last 42 days. During this phase, Hamas will continue to release living hostages, including soldiers, in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners.

The proposal states that at this stage, the parties will start enacting the principles that will lead to a prolonged cease-fire, including the withdrawal of the IDF to the borderline. Not all of these principles are reported.

In the third phase, which will also last 42 days, bodies of hostages will be released, and after they are identified, a five-year rehabilitation plan will begin, in which the Palestinians will commit to not build infrastructure for military purposes, and will not receive raw materials that can be used for such purposes.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are currently meeting in Jerusalem.

Senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri said on Wednesday that U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is blaming the delay of a Gaza cease-fire agreement on the Palestinian group unfairly.

Blinken, meeting Israeli leaders to discuss how to get more aid into Gaza, has repeatedly urged Hamas to accept an offer from Israel that will release hostages and achieve a cease-fire, describing it as "extraordinarily generous".

"Blinken's comments contradict reality. It is not strange for Blinken, who is known as the foreign minister of Israel, not America, to make such a statement," Abu Zuhri told Reuters.

"Even the Israeli negotiating team admitted Netanyahu was the one who was hindering reaching an agreement," he added.

Abu Zuhri said that the group was still studying the recent cease-fire offer. Hamas is seeking a permanent cease-fire and Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, while Netanyahu says Israel needs to destroy the remaining Hamas battalions in Rafah in southern Gaza for its own security, with or without a deal with Hamas.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has come out of his hotel in Tel Aviv to speak to the dozens of demonstrators rallying outside it in calls to bring back the hostages, and said to them, "bringing your loved ones home is at the heart of everything we're trying to do, and we will not rest until everyone man, woman, soldier, civilian is back home."

"There is a very smart proposal on the table right now, Hamas needs to say yes it needs to get this done," Blinken continued. "We will not rest, we will not stop until you're reunited with your loved ones, so please keep strong, keep the faith, we will be with you every single day until we get this done," he concluded.