As the Israel-Hamas war crosses the seven-month mark, negotiations are apparently stalled to secure the release of hostages taken by the terrorist organization, and Israeli forces continue to launch incursions in the southern Gazan town of Rafah ahead of a possible large-scale invasion.
Israel 'united' in desire to return hostages, Netanyahu responds to Biden
Hours after President Joe Biden outlined a three-phase cease-fire deal to end the Israel-Hamas war and said it is time to bring the hostages home, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has responded, saying its government is "united in the desire to return abductees."
"The Israeli government is united in the desire to return our abductees as soon as possible and is working to achieve this goal," Netanyahu's office said in a statement Friday.
"The Prime Minister authorized the negotiating team to present an outline for achieving this goal, while insisting that the war will not end until all of its goals are achieved, including the return of all our abductees and the elimination of Hamas' military and governmental capabilities," Netanyahu's office added.
-ABC News' Ellie Kaufman
May 31, 2024, 2:00 PM EDT
Biden pitches 3-phase cease-fire deal to end Israel-Hamas war
President Joe Biden gave remarks from the White House on Friday, presenting an Israeli proposal to draw the war in Gaza to a close.
Biden said the deal had been transmitted to Israel and Hamas, through Qatar.
The president said the first phase would last for six weeks and include a "full and complete cease-fire, a withdrawal of Israeli forces from all populated areas of Gaza [and] release of a number of hostages." Palestinians would also be able to return to their homes and 600 trucks of humanitarian aid would be delivered to Gaza every day.
President Joe Biden delivers remarks on the verdict in former President Donald Trump's hush money trial and on the Middle East, from the State Dining Room of the White House, Friday, May 31, 2024, in Washington.
Evan Vucci/AP
The second phase would include a release of all remaining living hostages and the temporary cease-fire would become a permanent cease-fire with Israel withdrawing all forces from Gaza "as long as Hamas lives up to its commitments," Biden said.
In phase three, there would be a major reconstruction of Gaza.
"At this point Hamas no longer is capable of carrying out another Oct. 7, which was one of the Israelis' main objectives in this war, and, quite frankly, a righteous one," Biden said.
Biden continued, "We can’t lose this moment. Indefinite war in pursuit of an unidentified notion of total victory ... will only bog down Israel in Gaza -- draining the economic, military and human resources and furthering Israel's isolation in the world. That will not bring hostages home."
14:08
Biden outlines plans to end hostage crisis between Hamas and Israel
President Joe Biden reacted to former President Donald Trump's guilty verdict in his criminal hush money trial and addressed the ongoing tensions in the Middle East.
ABCNews.com
May 31, 2024, 1:19 PM EDT
Hamas releases audio from Israeli hostage Noa Argamani
Hamas has released a video containing audio from hostage Noa Argamani with images of her drawings over the audio.
Alongside her voice, in which she pleads to be saved, drawings are shown, which the family believes to be scribbles that Argamani has drawn.
Agramani was seen in a widely shared video being abducted from the Nova music festival on a motorbike.
A poster of Noa Argamani, who was kidnapped during the deadly Oct. 7 attack on Israel by Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, is seen in the Florentin neighborhood of Tel Aviv, Israel, May 11, 2024.
Shannon Stapleton/Reuters, FILE
The 26-year-old was last heard from in a video released by Hamas in January.
The Hostage Families Forum, which said the family approved release of the video, said in a statement, "125 men and women have been held hostage by Hamas for 238 days. The Israeli government must hear the call and act decisively, without the need for any propaganda video from Hamas, to swiftly reach a deal to bring the hostages home!"
-ABC News' Anna Burd
May 31, 2024, 1:10 PM EDT
Israeli forces operating in central Rafah, IDF says
The Israeli army is now operating in central Rafah, the IDF said Friday.
"The operation continues to gradually evolve, with forces focusing on uprooting Hamas terror infrastructure on the Philadelphi route as well as special forces that are conducted intelligence-based targeted-raids from the outskirts of Central Rafah," the IDF said in a statement.
The IDF said it found dozens of Hamas tunnels and rocket launchers. Israel also said it "eliminated hundreds of terrorists along the Philadelphi route and the outskirts of the Urban areas of Rafah."
An Israeli soldier mans a military vehicle in southern Israel near the border with the Gaza Strip on May 29, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict in the Palestinian territory between Israel and the Hamas movement.
