Israel-Hamas war latest: Cease-fire talks face delays after Netanyahu's fiery speech to Congress

Officials from Egypt, Israel, the United States and Qatar were expected to meet Thursday in Doha with the aim of resuming talks for a proposed three-phase cease-fire to end the war between Israel and Hamas and free the remaining hostages. But an Israeli official said Israel’s negotiating team was delayed and would likely be dispatched next week.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed Congress in Washington on Wednesday as thousands of protesters gathered near the U.S. Capitol to denounce the war. Hamas slammed the speech Thursday and accused Netanyahu of obstructing efforts to end the war and return the hostages.

Netanyahu has signaled that a cease-fire deal could be taking shape after nine months of war, but during his fiery speech to Congress, he vowed to press forward with Israel’s war until he achieves “total victory.”

Palestinians displaced by the Israeli military’s latest order to leave parts of the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis say they are sleeping in the streets. The Health Ministry in Gaza says more than 39,100 Palestinians have been killed in the war.

Here’s the latest:

Hezbollah attacks Israeli military post, no injuries reported

Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah group said it attacked an Israeli military post in northern Israel with explosive drones after one of its members was killed earlier Thursday in an Israeli airstrike.

Hezbollah said that its attack directly hit the base in Neve Ziv.

After sirens sounded in northern Israel regarding hostile aircraft infiltrations and rocket and missile launches, the Israeli military said multiple “suspicious aerial targets” were identified crossing from Lebanon into Israeli territory.

The army added that unsuccessful interception attempts were carried out. As a result of falling shrapnel from the interception attempts, fires broke out in several areas but no injuries were reported.

Israeli Fire and Rescue Services are operating to extinguish the fires, the army said.

Hezbollah said the attack with drones was in retaliation for an Israeli airstrike on south Lebanon earlier in the day that killed a member of the group, Abdullah Mohammed Faqih.

Since early October, Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon have killed more than 450 people, mostly Hezbollah members, but also around 90 civilians and noncombatants. On the Israeli side, 21 soldiers and 13 civilians have been killed.

Israeli strikes on Khan Younis kill at least 7 Palestinians overnight

KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip — Israeli strikes on the southern city of Khan Younis killed at least seven Palestinians overnight into Thursday, according to hospital officials and an Associated Press journalist who counted the bodies.

At the start of July, the Israeli military ordered parts of the city to be evacuated. On Monday, it added the Muwasi humanitarian zone and other parts of the crowded south to be evacuated. Renewed hostilities and mass displacement followed.

One strike hit the roof of a house in a neighborhood in eastern Khan Younis, killing three people who were inside. In another neighborhood, at least four others from the al-Attar family, who had previously fled from northern Gaza, were killed in a separate strike that hit their tent.

The bodies were taken to the Nasser Hospital and wrapped in blue and white bags. A group of women and girls wept after seeing the bodies at the hospital before funeral prayers. One girl said, “Goodbye, mother,” as she cried in the arms of a woman standing next to her.

Outside the hospital, a Muslim sheikh led funeral prayers for the dead alongside a group of men. People then gathered around the bodies before they were placed on a truck and sent for burial.

Since the Israel-Hamas war began, 39,175 people have been killed and 90,403 others wounded in Gaza, according to its Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between combatants and civilians. The ministry in the Palestinian enclave also said Gaza’s hospitals received 30 dead bodies and 146 wounded people over the past 24 hours.

Hamas slams Netanyahu's speech to Congress

BEIRUT — The Palestinian Hamas group slammed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s fiery speech to the United States Congress, accusing him Thursday of obstructing efforts to end the war and return the hostages.

In his high profile visit to Washington, Netanyahu pledged to achieve “total victory” against the militant group in his nearly one-hour address in Congress, and derided protests against the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip, now in its ninth month.

Hamas said Netanyahu’s Washington visit was an address to improve his image after the International Criminal Court requested to issue arrest warrants against him for war crimes. The ICC also requested warrants for his Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, Hamas officials Mohammed Deif, Yehya Sinwar, and Ismail Haniyeh.

“He (Netanyahu) is the one who thwarted all efforts aimed at ending the war and concluding a deal to release the prisoners, despite the continuous efforts of mediators from the brothers in Egypt and Qatar despite the flexibility and positivity shown by the movement,” the militant group said in a written statement, adding that the Israeli prime minister talking about intensified efforts to free the hostages is a “complete lie” to mislead public opinion.

They also rejected Netanyahu’s vision for Gaza's future — which would consist of a demilitarized civilian administration in the enclave — and accused Netanyahu of being dishonest about aid delivery into the Gaza Strip and downplaying the number of Palestinians killed in the ongoing war.

6 hostage relatives are released after being detained in Washington during Netanyahu's speech to Congress

TEL AVIV, Israel — A group representing the families of Israeli hostages held in Gaza said Thursday that six hostage relatives have been released after they were briefly detained during Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech to the joint session of Congress.

The family members stood in the hall silently during the address Wednesday and wore yellow shirts that read “Seal the Deal Now,” referring to a cease-fire deal to free the hostages, before they were removed from the House chamber by security officers. They were released a number of hours later, the Hostages Family Forum said.

“Benjamin Netanyahu spoke for 54 minutes and he did not mention once the need to seal the deal and to sign the deal now,” said Gil Dickmann, whose cousin, Carmel Gat, is being held in Gaza.

The six said they were invited by members of Congress to attend the speech. Netanyahu brought to the speech rescued hostage Noa Argamani and a number of family members of the hostages as part of his official delegation.

Israel recovers 5 hostage bodies from Gaza

JERUSALEM — The Israeli military said Thursday it has recovered the bodies of five Israeli hostages, in the area of the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, that were abducted by Hamas militants on Oct. 7.

It identified the hostages as Maya Goren, and four soldiers it says died in battle: Sgt. Oren Goldin, Staff Sgt. Tomer Ahimas, Sgt. Maj. Ravid Aryeh Katz and Sgt. Kiril Brodski. It says all five were believed to have been killed in the Oct. 7 Hamas raid that triggered the war, and their bodies were held hostage.

Kibbutz Nir Oz, one of the hardest-hit communities during Hamas’ assault, said Wednesday that it was informed that the body of Goren, 56, was returned to Israel after a rescue mission, without providing additional details. Israeli authorities had said in late 2023 that she was dead.

Israel has now pronounced dead more than a third of the roughly 110 hostages who remain in Hamas captivity.

Australia sanctions 7 Israelis and a West Bank-based youth group over settler violence

SYDNEY — Australia is imposing financial sanctions and travel bans against seven Israeli citizens and financial sanctions against a West Bank-based youth group over their alleged involvement in settler violence in the occupied territory.

The sanctions announced Thursday are against Hilltop Youth and its leader Meir Ettinger, 32. Other targeted individuals are Yinon Levi, 31; Zvi Bar Yosef, 31; Neria Ben Pazi, 30; Elisha Yered, 23; David Chai Chasdai, 29; and Einan Tanjil, 22.

Australia accuses them of violent attacks on Palestinians. These include beatings, sexual assault and torture of Palestinians resulting in serious injuries and deaths, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said in a statement.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said his government imposed the sanctions “because it’s the right thing to do.” He added that settlements in the West Bank impeded a two-state solution and were illegal under international law.

The sanctions follow the United States' decision to sanction entities and individuals connected to acts of violence against civilians in the West Bank.

Wong said Australia called on Israel to hold perpetrators of settler violence to account and cease ongoing settlement activity.