Israel-Gaza updates: Gantz rejects Netanyahu's request, resigns
He said Netanyahu is "preventing us from progressing towards a true victory."
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:
- Gantz resigns from emergency government in blow to Netanyahu
- Hamas military wing claims 3 hostages, including American, killed in raid
- Hundreds killed or injured during hostage rescue, Gaza ministry says
- Central Gaza death toll rises to 150
- Gaza hospital receives 55 dead bodies amid Israeli raid on central Gaza
Hezbollah responds to Ben Gvir's call for war, saying it's ready
Hezbollah has responded to far-right Israeli Minister Ben Gvir's calls for war, with the group saying it's ready.
"If 'Israel' wants to wage an all-out war, we are ready for it. Any Israeli expansion of the war on Lebanon will be met with devastation, destruction and displacement in Israel," Deputy Secretary General of Hezbollah Sheikh Naeem Qassem told Al Jazeera Tuesday.
"Our decision is not to expand the war, but we will fight it if it is imposed on us," he said.
He also claimed that President Joe Biden's cease-fire proposal is a political move ahead of the election.
"There is no serious American decision to stop the 'Israeli' war on Gaza," Qassem said.
-ABC News' Nasser Atta
Hamas says it won’t accept deal without permanent cease-fire, complete withdrawal from Gaza
Hamas will not accept a Gaza truce deal without clear commitment from Israel to a permanent cease-fire and a complete withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, Hamas official Osama Hamdan said Tuesday.
"We have communicated our position to the mediators that we cannot agree to a deal unless there is a clear position from the Israeli occupation it is committed to a permanent cease-fire and a comprehensive withdrawal from the Gaza Strip,” Hamdan said during a press conference in Beirut.
Hamdan said he does not believe Israel will commit to a cease-fire and called on Israel to submit a clear position of its readiness for a permanent cease-fire and complete withdrawal from Gaza.
"We cannot agree to a deal that does not secure, guarantee and confirm a permanent cease-fire, comprehensive withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and the completion of a serious and real exchange deal," Hamdan said.
"We asked the mediators to obtain a clear position from the Israeli occupation regarding its commitment to a permanent cease-fire and a comprehensive withdrawal," he added.
-ABC News' Ayat Al-Tawy
Hamas responds unfavorably to current cease-fire proposal
Hamas officials are not responding favorably to President Joe Biden's speech Friday and what they call the current proposal on the table.
A Hamas leader said no Hamas delegation has gone to Cairo, and the group is not accepting the offer given to them by mediators, the leader told Al-Mayadeen, a Lebanese news channel.
"We do not want to start from scratch, and our basic condition now is official Israeli approval of the previous paper, otherwise there will be no rounds and discussions," the leader said to Al-Mayadeen.
Separately, senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri said the group frowns upon Washington and the West's calls for it to accept Biden's proposal on Gaza "as if it is Hamas who is hampering the deal," he said Tuesday.
Israel is not serious about reaching a deal in Gaza and is still maneuvering under the U.S.'s cover, Abu Zuhri said to Hamas media.
-ABC News' Nasser Atta
Qatar says Israel and Hamas should have clear positions for Gaza cease-fire
Qatar’s foreign ministry said on Tuesday it was "too early" to reach a cease-fire deal and that there should be a clear position from both sides on the U.S. truce proposal.
"We are waiting for a clear Israeli position that represent the entire Israeli government," Qatari foreign ministry spokesperson Majed Al-Ansari told reporters during a press briefing on Tuesday. "Any talk of reaching a deal needs a clear position from both sides towards ideas put on the table."
The deal should offer a road map for a permanent cease-fire and an end to the war, he said.
"It is too early thus far. We do not have clear positions from both sides," he said, adding that mediators remain hopeful as they push ahead with efforts to reach a deal but are "not always optimistic."
-ABC News' Ayat Al-Tawy
Right-wing Israeli ministers against deal
Right-wing Israeli Ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir spoke out on social media Saturday, both threatening to leave the government if the deal in its current form is accepted.
"I have now spoken with the Prime Minister and made it clear to him that I will not be part of a government that will agree to the proposed outline and end the war without destroying Hamas and returning all the abductees," Smotrich wrote.
This comes after the Hostage Families group released a statement urging Israel's parliament to embrace the deal.