Israel-Gaza updates: IDF to begin daily 'tactical pause' along Gaza aid route
Military action will be paused on the route from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., Israel said.
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:
- Biden cites pain of Muslims in Gaza in Eid al-Adha holiday statement
- IDF to begin daily 'tactical pause' along Gaza aid route
- Netanyahu reacts to death of 8 soldiers, says Israel is ready for additional challenges
- 50,000 children require malnutrition treatment in Gaza: UN
- 8 IDF soldiers killed in southern Gaza 'incident'
US, Egypt, Qatar will work to 'bridge final gaps,' national security adviser says
National security adviser Jake Sullivan said the U.S. will work with Egypt and Qatar to "bridge final gaps" on cease-fire negotiations that are consistent with President Joe Biden’s May 31 speech and consistent with the U.N. Security Council Resolution.
"Many of the proposed changes are minor and not unanticipated, others differ more substantively from what was outlined in the U.N. Security Council resolution," Sullivan told reporters.
Sullivan said their goal is "to bring this process to a conclusion."
"Our view is that the time for haggling is over, it's time for a cease-fire to begin and for the hostages to come home," he said.
-ABC News’ Justin Ryan Gomez
Blinken expresses frustration with Hamas response to deal, says negotiations will go on
Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday weighed in on Hamas’ official response to the cease-fire proposal, stressing that a deal is the "single, most effective way" to alleviate civilian suffering and avoid escalation in the region.
“Hamas has proposed numerous changes to the proposal that is on the table," Blinken said at a news conference in Qatar with Qatari officials. "We discussed those changes with Egyptian colleagues, and today with the prime minister [of Qatar]. Some of the changes are workable, some are not."
"Here, in a nutshell is where we stand," Blinken said. "Hamas could have answered with a single word: yes. Instead, Hamas waited nearly two weeks and then proposed more changes, a number of which go beyond positions it had previously taken and accepted."
Blinken said that as a result "the war Hamas started will go on," but that "in the days ahead, we’re going to continue to push on an urgent basis" to "try to close this deal."
Blinken noted that almost everyone he’s spoken with during his eight trips to the Middle East since Oct. 7 made clear they wanted to see a negotiated solution to the conflict.
"I cannot speak for Hamas or answer for Hamas and ultimately, it may not be the path Hamas wants to pursue. But Hamas cannot and will not be allowed to decide the future for this region and its people," he said.
Blinken was pressed on whether the deal was salvageable and whether more pressure needed to be applied to Israel. The secretary declined to characterize Hamas’ response as a rejection, as Israeli officials have, but expressed significant skepticism.
"At some point in a negotiation, and this has gone back and forth for a long time, you get to a point where if one side continues to change its demands, including making demands and insisting on changes for things that it already accepted, you have to question whether they’re proceeding in good faith or not," he said.
Blinken went on to say he believes the gaps are bridgeable, but "it doesn’t mean they will be bridged" because it depends "on people saying yes."
"Hamas had this for 12 days. ... People were suffering throughout those 12 days. The longer this goes on, the more people will suffer," he asserted. "It’s time for the haggling to stop."
Blinken was also adamant that Israel was not the problem.
"Look, Israel accepted the proposal as it was and as it is. Hamas didn’t. So I think it’s pretty clear what needs to happen," he said.
-ABC News’ Shannon Crawford
Hezbollah fires more than 160 rockets into Israel, IDF says
Hezbollah militants in Lebanon fired more than 160 rockets toward Israel in about 2 hours on Wednesday, the most intense barrage since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas war, Israeli officials said.
Many of the projectiles launched into northern Israel were intercepted, the Israel Defense Forces told ABC News. Others fell in open areas, including a number of locations in northern Israel, officials said.
The barrage was in response to an Israeli strike in Lebanon on Tuesday night that killed a top Hezbollah commander, the militants said, adding that it was also "in support of our steadfast Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip."
No injuries or damage were reported, the IDF said.
-ABC News' Joe Simonetti and Kevin Shalvey
Israeli forces kill 6 in West Bank raid: Palestinian health officials
Israeli troops shot and killed six Palestinians during a raid on a small village near the city of Jenin in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday amid escalating violence there, according to the Hamas-run Palestinian Ministry of Health.
The Israel Defense Forces said its soldiers killed "four armed terrorists" and injured "additional ones" amid "exchanges of fire" while conducting "counterterror activity" in the Kafr Dan area.
-ABC News' Nasser Atta and Dana Savir
At least 50 projectiles launched from Lebanon toward Israel on Friday: IDF
The situation on Israel’s northern border with Lebanon remains tense.
Two women were killed and 20 people were injured in the village of Janata in southern Lebanon after an airstrike on a house late Thursday night, the Lebanese Civil Defense said in a statement.
Since Friday morning, at least 50 projectiles were launched from Lebanon toward Israel, the Israeli Defense Forces said.
"A number of the projectiles were intercepted," the IDF said.
"As a result of the launches, a fire broke out in the area of Kfar Szold," the IDF added.
Hezbollah issued statements taking responsibility for nine attacks on Israeli sites Friday.
-ABC News’ Ellie Kaufman, Nasser Atta and Jordana Miller