As the Israel-Hamas war continues, the latest round of cease-fire discussions appears to have reached an impasse.
Meanwhile, after six hostages were found dead in Gaza, protests erupted in Israel. Protesters have lashed out at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and demanded the government bring the hostages home.
Hamas says no deal if the IDF doesn't withdraw as negotiations appear stuck
Hamas said it would not agree to a cease-fire agreement with Israel that doesn't include a complete withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, including the Philadelphi axis and the Rafah crossing, as negotiations appear to be at a standstill.
Hamas is also demanding the return of displaced Palestinians to their homes and an exchange of Palestinian prisoners held in Israel for hostages.
"We do not need any new papers or proposals from any party. We refuse to return to point zero or go around in a vicious circle, in order to achieve Netanyahu’s goals," the Hamas Political Bureau said in a statement Thursday.
-ABC News' Nasser Atta
Sep 05, 2024, 1:11 PM EDT
Official pushes back on claim US is too optimistic on deal
The National Security Council is pushing back on claims the U.S. is being to optimistic about a cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas, stressing that it is "actively engaging counterparts in Qatar, Egypt, Israel, to see what we can do to try to move this forward," spokesperson John Kirby said Thursday.
Kirby said 90% of a deal has been agreed to.
"You call that optimistic. I call that accurate. That's how close we believe we are. That's where we have gotten to. The basic framework of the deal has been agreed to," Kirby said.
"What we're talking about now is the implementing details, and specifically the exchange of prisoners. And now that calculus is different because of what happened over the weekend," he said, referring to the death of six hostages in Gaza.
Displaced Palestinians shelter in a school, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, Sept. 5, 2024.
Mohammed Salem/Reuters
Kirby acknowledged that the administration is "frustrated that we still haven't been able to conclude this deal."
"We believe that these differences can be resolved. What the next step looks like in terms of resolving them? I think we just don't know right now," Kirby said.
"We want to see the hostages home as soon as possible. But I would also say that as frustrating as it has been at times and as unhelpful as not just public comments, but even private machinations in the negotiation process have been to closure of the deal, it has not dimmed one bit President Biden's commitment to trying to see this through," he said.
-ABC News' Molly Nagle
Sep 05, 2024, 12:42 PM EDT
Israeli strikes hit humanitarian area in Gaza killing 5
Five people were killed after Israeli strikes hit a location "in the humanitarian area in Deir al-Balah," near the Al-Aqsa hospital, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health and Israeli Defense Forces.
Israeli forces were conducting a "targeted strike on terrorists who operated in a Command and Control Center," used by Hamas and the Islamic Jihad there, the IDF said in the release.
-ABC News' Jordana Miller and Sami Zyara
Sep 05, 2024, 12:06 PM EDT
6 killed after Israeli operation in West Bank
Six people were killed in the Tubas and Far'a neighborhoods in the West Bank after an Israeli operation was carried out overnight, the Israel Defense Forces and Palestinian Ministry of Health said in statements Thursday.
The IDF called the operation in Tubas and Far'a a "counterterrorism operation."
Israeli soldiers arrest a Palestinian man during a military operation in Jenin, West Bank, Sept. 5, 2024.
Majdi Mohammed/AP
Since the IDF operation began last week, 39 people have been killed and about 145 people have been injured in the West Bank, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said the government must "remain focused" on the "resurgence of terrorism in the West Bank," in remarks Thursday.
