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Israel-Gaza live updates: Hamas to send a delegation to Cairo for negotiations

Hamas will send a delegation to Cairo for hostage and cease-fire negotiations.

ByABC NEWS
Last Updated: April 28, 2024, 5:13 PM EDT

As the Israel-Hamas war approaches the seven-month mark, renewed negotiations are underway to secure the release of hostages taken by the terrorist organization, as Israeli forces continue to prepare for an apparent invasion of the southern Gaza town of Rafah.

Meanwhile, President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke in a phone call over the weekend, discussing increasing the delivery of humanitarian aid into Gaza and plans for a possible military operation in Rafah, according to the White House.

Apr 28, 2024, 1:09 PM EDT

FBI examining hostage video that appears to show American Keith Siegel, White House says

A video purporting to show American Keith Siegel and an Israeli citizen being held hostage by Hamas terrorists is being examined by the FBI and the Hostage Recovery Fusion Cell, the White House said Sunday.

The video was released on Telegram on Saturday by Hamas and appears to show 64-year-old Siegel and 47-year-old Omri Miran, an Israeli citizen from Kibbutz Nahal Oz, as they speak to the camera under duress.

The men express how much they miss their families and their sadness at missing Passover celebrations. They also ask their families to continue to pressure the Israeli government for a deal.

In response to the video, Siegel's wife and daughters released a video statement.

"Seeing my father today only emphasizes to all of us how much we must reach a deal as soon as possible and bring everyone home. I demand that the leaders of this country watch this video and see their father crying out for help," one of Siegel's daughters, Ilan, said in the video statement.

Siegel's wife, Aviva Siegel, who was also taken hostage and released during the first cease-fire and hostage deal in November, told her husband in the video statement, "Keith, I love you, we will fight until you return."

Shir Siegel, another daughter of the hostage, added, "If you watched the video, you saw that my father knows we are all coming to the rally every week and fighting for him and all the captives. Thank you for being with us. We will not stop fighting together."

-ABC News' Michelle Stoddart

Apr 28, 2024, 10:25 AM EDT

World Central Kitchen will resume operations in Gaza on Monday, it says

The World Central Kitchen said it will resume operations in Gaza on Monday.

"The humanitarian situation in Gaza remains dire," CEO Erin Gore said Sunday in a press release. "We are restarting our operation with the same energy, dignity and focus on feeding as many people as possible. To date, we have distributed more than 43 million meals, and we are eager to deliver millions more."

"We will continue to get as much food into Gaza, including northern Gaza, as possible -- by land, air or sea," Gore added, in part.

Chef José Andrés' aid group had paused operations on April 2, when seven workers were killed in Gaza during an Israel Defense Forces drone strike, the food-relief organization has said.

Andrés, in an exclusive sit-down interview with "This Week" co-anchor Martha Raddatz earlier this month, said the strike is "unforgivable" and that Israel is committing a "war against humanity itself."

Photos provided by World Central Kitchen shows Saifeddin Issam Ayad Abutaha, Lalzawmi Frankcom, Damian Sobal, Jacob Flickinger, John Chapman, James Henderson, and James Kirby, the seven aid workers who were killed in Gaza, April 2, 2024
World Central Kitchen/AP

An investigation by the Israeli military into how the WCK strike occurred found that the decision to hit the aid convoy was a "serious violation" of their rules. It noted in its report the team that carried it out lacked sufficient evidence to do so, twice violating operating rules. In response, the IDF said it dismissed two officers, suspended two commanders and reprimanded three others. An Israeli military spokesman said it was "a terrible chain of errors, and it should never have happened."

Israeli officials have repeatedly defended their military operations in Gaza, insisting they take steps to curb civilian deaths while allowing aid to flow in that cannot benefit Hamas.

Apr 27, 2024, 5:11 PM EDT

Hamas releases video appearing to show 2 hostages

A video released by Hamas on Telegram Saturday features two men who identify themselves as hostages captured on Oct. 7.

The heavily edited video cuts between the two men -- who identify themselves as American citizen Keith Siegel, 64, and Israeli citizen Omri Miran, 47, from Kibbutz Nahal Oz -- as they speak to the camera under duress.

A still from a video released on April 27, 2024, on a Hamas-run Telegram channel that showed a man who identified himself as Omri Miran.
Hamas Media Handout

The men express how much they miss their families and their sadness at missing Passover celebrations. They also ask their families to continue to pressure the Israeli government for a deal.

"I want to tell my family that I love you very much," Siegel says in the video.

"I have very, very beautiful memories of Passover last year when we all celebrated together, and I really hope we all have the best surprise possible," he says, before bursting into tears.

ABC News has not independently verified where or when the video was filmed, though in the video Miran says he has been in captivity for more than 202 days. Saturday marks 203 days since Hamas' Oct. 7 attack.

A still from a video released on April 27, 2024, on a Hamas-run Telegram channel that showed a man who identified himself as Keith Siegel.
Hamas Media Handout

Siegel's wife, Aviva Siegel, was also taken hostage and released during the first cease-fire and hostage deal.

In a video message released on Saturday in response to the Hamas video, his wife said, "Keith, I love you, we will fight until you return."

She was joined in the video by the couple's two daughters.

"Seeing my father today only emphasizes to all of us how much we must reach a deal as soon as possible and bring everyone home," their daughter, Ilan Siegel, said. "I demand that the leaders of this country watch this video and see their father crying out for help."

The Hostage and Missing Families Forum said in a statement following the release of the latest video that the "proof of life from Keith Siegel and Omri Miran is the clearest evidence that the Israeli government must do everything to approve a deal for the return of all the hostages before Independence Day."

"Now is the time for the government and its leader to prove through actions their commitment to the citizens of Israel who await the return of the hostages," the statement continued. "The Israeli government must not miss this opportunity to bring them all home!"

The Israeli government did not immediately respond to ABC News' request for comment on the video.

The video comes three days after the release by Hamas of a video showing a man who identified himself as Hersh Goldberg-Polin, a 24-year-old American who was captured at the Nova Music Festival on Oct. 7.

Apr 26, 2024, 8:35 AM EDT

Scoop: Biden will not sanction 3 Israeli military units U.S. determined committed human rights violations

President Biden has decided not to sanction three Israeli military units it determined committed human rights violations in the West Bank, according to a letter from U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken to House Speaker Mike Johnson, obtained by ABC News.

The Biden administration determined that three military battalions with the Israeli Defense Force committed “gross human rights violations” against Palestinian civilians in the West Bank.

But the units will remain eligible for US military aid anyway because of steps Israel says it's taking to address the problem, according to the letter.

The allegations involving each of the units occurred before the Oct. 7 war began, according to the letter, which notes, none of the cases involve operations against Hamas in Gaza or against Iran or its proxies.

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