Israel-Gaza updates: Gantz rejects Netanyahu's request, resigns

He said Netanyahu is "preventing us from progressing towards a true victory."

ByNadine El-Bawab and Kevin Shalvey
Last Updated: June 3, 2024, 12:35 PM EDT

As the Israel-Hamas war continues, 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.

Latest headlines:

Here's how the news is developing.
Jun 03, 2024, 12:35 PM EDT

Netanyahu: Israel must work to bring hostages home, dismantle Hamas at same time

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has released his first public statement since President Joe Biden's Friday speech endorsing the original Israeli cease-fire deal.

"We are working in countless ways to return our abductees," Netanyahu said in Hebrew on Monday. "That's why we went a long way to bring them back, but in the process of this action we maintained the goals of the war, chief among them the elimination of Hamas."

PHOTO: Israel Palestinians
Israeli soldiers stand on top of tanks in a staging area near the Israeli-Gaza border in southern Israel, June 3, 2024.
Leo Correa/AP

"We insist that we complete both this and that. It's part of the outline, it's not something I'm adding now, it's not something I'm adding because I was pressured in the coalition, it's something we unanimously agreed on in the war cabinet," Netanyahu added.

-ABC News’ Bruno Nota and Dana Savir

Jun 03, 2024, 3:57 AM EDT

1 million have fled Rafah, UNRWA says

More than 1 million people have fled Rafah in the weeks since Israel issued evacuation orders, the local U.N. agency said Monday.

Smoke billows in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on June 2, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas militant group.
Eyad Baba/AFP via Getty Images

"Thousands of families now shelter in damaged & destroyed facilities in Khan Younis, where UNRWA keeps providing essential services despite increasing challenges," the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees said in a statement.

The agency added, "Conditions are unspeakable."

-ABC News' Kevin Shalvey

Jun 02, 2024, 10:52 PM EDT

Sec. Blinken tells Israel onus is on Hamas to accept cease-fire deal

Sec. of State Anthony Blinken spoke to Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Sunday about the proposal for a ceasefire-hostage deal.

The deal would secure the release of the hostages and ensure a surge in humanitarian assistance throughout Gaza.

"The Secretary commended Israel’s readiness to conclude a deal and affirmed that the onus is on Hamas to accept," according to a readout of the call.

During the call, Blinken also reaffirmed America's commitment to Israel's security.

Jun 01, 2024, 4:38 PM EDT

US, Qatar and Egypt urge Israel and Hamas to accept deal

In a joint statement shared by the U.S. State Department on Saturday, mediators from the U.S., Egypt and Qatar said they’re working to secure a cease-fire in Gaza and the release of the hostages, and urged Hamas and Israel "to finalize the agreement" that President Joe Biden outlined on Friday.

"These principles brought the demands of all parties together in a deal that serves multiple interests and will bring immediate relief both to the long-suffering people of Gaza as well as the long-suffering hostages and their families," the statement said. "This deal offers a roadmap for a permanent ceasefire and ending the crisis."

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