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
Egypt, Qatar, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, UAE support cease-fire deal
The foreign ministers of Egypt, Qatar, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates released a joint statement Monday in support of the current cease-fire deal.
The ministers met virtually to discuss the proposal and mediation efforts to reach a deal and hostages-for-prisoners swap, as well as the sufficient entry of aid into Gaza, the statement said.
The G7 leaders also issued a statement in support of the current deal.
White House: Biden outlined Israel’s cease-fire offer accurately
President Joe Biden outlined Israel’s cease-fire proposal accurately in his Friday speech, the White House maintained Monday, pushing back on suggestions he miscommunicated the offer.
"The Israeli foreign minister himself acknowledged that this was the Israeli proposal ... and we're confident that it accurately reflects that proposal, a proposal that we worked with the Israelis on," White House national security communications adviser John Kirby told reporters.
Kirby also argued that Biden "felt it was important" to reveal details from ongoing cease-fire negotiations for the first time, saying it was meant to apply pressure on Hamas, not to corner Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
"We don't typically go through the details of these kinds of proposals," Kirby said. "But in this case, given where we are, given how much longer the hostages have now been held, given the fact that Hamas has reneged on several past occasions, on proposals that were sent to them, and given the fact that the Israelis really did work hard to come up with this proposal, and did so in good faith, the president felt it was important for the first time to publicly lay that out."
"This wasn't about jamming the prime minister or the war cabinet," Kirby added. "This was about laying bare for the public to see how well and how faithfully and how assertively the Israelis came up with a new proposal, how it shows how much they really want to get this done."
Kirby said Biden delivered the speech on Friday afternoon because the deal was presented to Hamas the night before.
"We're awaiting an official response by them now to take the deal," Kirby said. "This gives them what they've been looking for, which is a cease-fire and over time, and through the phases, the potential withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza."
-ABC News’ Fritz Farrow
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."
"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
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.
"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
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.