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Hamas says it ‘responded positively’ to temporary ceasefire deal proposal with Israel
(WASHINGTON) — Hamas announced it has submitted a “positive response” to the mediators about the current ceasefire and hostage exchange release proposal on the table.
How the proposal will be implemented will require another round of negotiations, according to the group.
“The movement is fully prepared to immediately enter into a round of negotiations regarding the mechanism for implementing this framework,” Hamas said.
The deal comes more than 20 months into the conflict — and more than three months after a previous deal ended.
Israel had expected a response from Hamas on the ceasefire and hostage deal by Friday, an Israeli official told ABC News.
Earlier this week, a Hamas adviser said the group was still studying the proposal.
“Hamas is open to any proposal that will end the Israeli military campaign in Gaza, but Hamas wants guarantees that Israel will commit to moving to the second phase of the ceasefire agreement after the first phase, which is set to last for 60 days,” said Taher Al-Nounou, media adviser to the head of Hamas.
What’s in the deal?
The revised temporary ceasefire deal on the table now deals with the release of more hostages by Hamas, according to two Israeli sources familiar with the matter.
The deal calls for the release of 10 living hostages from Hamas captivity and the return of 15 bodies of hostages being held by the terrorist group.
It is believed there are about 20 living hostages still being held by Hamas.
According to the terms of the proposal, the release of the 10 living hostages and 15 bodies will be staggered over the 60-day period the temporary ceasefire is in effect.
Under the terms of the deal, Hamas will not hold ceremonies for the hostage releases, as they did during a previous six-week ceasefire.
Discussion of a permanent ceasefire will take place during the 60-day period.
Even after Hamas responds to the proposal, there are still several issues that remain to be addressed, one of the sources said — including the number of Palestinian prisoners to be released in exchange for hostages.
In many rounds of negotiations, Hamas has sought a guaranteed end to the war in Gaza — but that remained a chief sticking point in recent negotiations and something Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had not agreed to budge on.
President Donald Trump announced earlier this week that Israel had agreed to conditions for the 60-day ceasefire in Gaza.
Trump said representatives from Qatar and Egypt would deliver the final proposal to Hamas, which came after a “long and productive meeting” between Trump officials and Israeli officials in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday.
“I hope, for the good of the Middle East, that Hamas takes this Deal, because it will not get better — IT WILL ONLY GET WORSE,” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform.
The latest deal comes after months of negotiations over a ceasefire led in part by U.S. Middle East Envoy Steve Witkoff.
In May, the White House submitted an Israeli-approved proposal for a 60-day ceasefire to Hamas, but the deal stalled.
At the time, Trump urged both Israel and Hamas to make a deal ahead of and during his first foreign policy trip of his second term in office to the Middle East. Ultimately, a deal was not reached, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ramped up attacks on Gaza after Trump left the region
In January, a six-week temporary ceasefire went into effect, resulting in the release of dozens of captives held by Hamas and an exchange of Palestinian prisoners.
However, that ceasefire ended on March 18 when Israel resumed military operations against Hamas in Gaza, with Israel citing the failure to release the remaining hostages and saying the military was targeting Hamas terrorists who posed a threat to Israeli troops and citizens.
The Israeli government also imposed a blockade on humanitarian aid entering the Gaza Strip on March 2 that lasted for 11 weeks and ended on May 19.
The Israel-Hamas war has taken a grim human toll. Since the war began, nearly 56,000 people in Gaza have been killed and more than 131,000 have been wounded, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry.
The war began on Oct. 7, 2023, when 1,200 people were killed in a Hamas-led terrorist attack on southern Israel. Hundreds more were taken hostage. At least 20 living hostages are believed to still remain in Hamas captivity.
-ABC News’ Diaa Ostaz and Nasser Atta contributed to this report.
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Human remains found after explosion, fire at California warehouse filled with fireworks
(ESPARTO, Calif) — Human remains have been found at the warehouse filled with fireworks that exploded in Northern California this week, officials said.
The number of fatalities was not released and no positive identifications have been made, Yolo County officials said. Seven people were considered missing on Wednesday.
“Recovery efforts are expected to continue throughout the weekend as investigators, coroner personnel, and fire crews work carefully and respectfully through the process,” county officials said on Friday. “The Coroner’s Office has been in contact with the families of those previously reported missing and will continue to provide them with timely updates as information becomes available.”
The blast occurred Tuesday night at a pyrotechnics facility in Esparto, about 40 miles from Sacramento, triggering a series of massive explosions, according to fire authorities.
Cal Fire and the Esparto Fire Protection District said crews were working to find the missing.
“We obviously do our best to train for every type of incident, but an incident like this is like a once-in-a-career type of incident,” Esparto Fire Chief Curtis Lawrence said at a news conference Wednesday.
The new conference was interrupted by an angry family member who said her boyfriend and brother-in-law were in the building.
“We’re all sick to our stomach, and we’re all waiting on the information [officials say] we should receive until Saturday, when I want to know today,” she said.
The origin and cause of the blast remains under investigation, county officials said Friday.
Cal Fire’s Office of the State Fire Marshal said it believes the facility belongs to a licensed pyrotechnics operator. Investigators are working to determine if the operation complied with California’s strict pyrotechnics regulations and federal explosive storage requirements.
“This type of incident is very rare,” Cal Fire officials said, noting that such facilities must follow stringent safety protocols.
“Our hearts and thoughts are with those we lost, their families, and everyone impacted in our community,” the management for Devastating Pyrotechnics, the company that owns the pyrotechnics business, said in a statement. “We are grateful for the swift response of law enforcement and emergency personnel. Our focus will remain on those directly impacted by this tragedy, and we will cooperate fully with the proper authorities in their investigation.”
The explosion led to the cancelation of multiple Fourth of July celebrations. The Cloverdale Lions Club announced Thursday that they were canceling their annual aerial fireworks display, as the Esparto facility was their designated supplier.
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Trump to sign controversial spending bill during White House 4th of July celebrations
(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump is slated to use the White House’s Fourth of July celebrations as the backdrop for his final victory lap over his massive spending bill.
The president will sign the legislation, which will bring massive cuts to government benefits such as Medicaid and increase funding for immigration enforcement, during the White House’s military family picnic on Friday evening.
It is unclear what guests will attend the signing event or if the picnic’s fireworks will take place during that time.
Trump pushed Congress to pass the bill by July 4th as some Republicans held out over several issues, including the bill’s effect on the debt ceiling.
“There could be no better birthday present for America than the phenomenal victory we achieved just hours ago when Congress passed the ‘One Big, Beautiful Bill’ to Make America Great Again,” Trump said in Iowa on Thursday, after the House passed the bill.
The White House celebrations for the Fourth of July will include several flyovers, including one featuring B-2 bombers. The president said Thursday that the flyover will occur at the same time he signs the bill; however, the White House has not confirmed the timing of that event.
Democrats criticized the president and the bill’s supporters over its cuts to services that help the poorest Americans. The bill institutes work requirements for Medicaid that some experts say will make millions of Americans uninsured, and makes cuts to the program that will result in closures of health centers in rural areas, according to health care employers.
On Thursday, House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries broke the chamber’s record with an eight-hour, 44-minute speech decrying the bill.
“We wanted to make sure that the American people had an opportunity to fully and more completely understands, in the light of day, just how damaging this one big, ugly bill will be to the American people,” he said.
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Trump criticized for using antisemitic slur in Iowa speech
Jewish advocacy groups slammed President Donald Trump for using an anti-Semitic descriptor on Thursday during his Iowa speech celebrating the passage of his spending bill.
Trump used the term “Shylocks,” which evokes a centuries-old antisemitic trope about Jewish people and greed, to talk about the tax changes in the bill.
“No death tax, no estate tax, no going to the banks and bar exam from, in some cases a fine banker, and in some cases Shylocks and bad people, but they took away a lot of family. They destroyed a lot of families, but we did the opposite,” he told the crowd.
Charlie Neibergall/AP
Shylock is a reference to the name of the Jewish moneylender and villain in playwright William Shakespeare’s “The Merchant of Venice” who demands a “pound of flesh” from protagonist Antonio.
The Anti-Defamation League on Friday morning criticized the president, reiterating that the term is “extremely offensive and dangerous.”
“President Trump’s use of the term is very troubling and irresponsible. It underscores how lies and conspiracies about Jews remain deeply entrenched in our country. Words from our leaders matter and we expect more from the President of the United States,” the organization said in a statement.
Amy Spitalnick, the CEO of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, also condemned Trump’s comments, saying in a statement it was one of “the most quintessential antisemitic stereotypes.”
“This is not an accident. It follows years in which Trump has normalized antisemitic tropes and conspiracy theories — and it’s deeply dangerous,” she added.
“To me, Shylock is somebody that’s a money lender at high rates. I’ve never heard it that way. You view it differently than me. I’ve never heard that,” Trump claimed.
This is not the first time that an executive branch member came under fire for using the term.
In 2014, then-Vice President Joe Biden took heat for using the term during the 40th anniversary celebration of the Legal Services Corporation, referring to predatory bankers as “these Shylocks who took advantage of these women and men while overseas.”
“He’s correct, it was a poor choice of words, particularly as he said coming from ‘someone as friendly to the Jewish community and open and tolerant an individual as is Vice President Joe Biden.’ He’s right,” Biden said in a statement.
ABC News’ Benjamin Siegel contributed to this report.
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Deadly storm slams New Jersey, hard-hit town cancels 4th of July celebration
A deadly storm with winds topping 60 mph tore through central New Jersey, forcing one town to cancel its Fourth of July celebrations.
Thursday night’s severe thunderstorm killed at least three people: one in North Plainfield and two in Plainfield, about 30 miles west of New York, ABC New York station WABC reported.
The Plainfield fatalities were 79-year-old Rocco Sansone and 25-year-old Brian Ernesto Valladares, who died when a tree fell on their car, according to the city.
“Our hearts are heavy,” Mayor Adrian O. Mapp said in a statement. “We mourn with the families and stand ready to support them in every way possible.”
Plainfield is under a state of emergency, with the mayor saying the “devastating storm” left “deep scars.”
Homes and cars have been damaged and some houses are structurally compromised from fallen trees, city officials said. Over 80 trees were knocked down, including many that are blocking roads or are entangled with power lines, officials said.
“There will be a time to celebrate again, to raise our flags and enjoy the joys of community,” the mayor said. “But right now, we must come together to clean up, to support one another, and to begin the work of rebuilding.”
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Four killed, 14 hurt in Chicago mass shooting: ‘Absolute chaos’
(CHICAGO) — Four people were killed and 14 others wounded in a “deplorable and cowardly” mass shooting in Chicago on Wednesday night, according to the police superintendent.
Around 11 p.m., people were exiting a venue in the River North neighborhood and standing on the sidewalk when a vehicle pulled up and someone in the car opened fire on the crowd, Chicago Police Superintendent Larry Snelling said at a news conference.
“They didn’t care who was struck, and in a matter of seconds, they were able to shoot 18 people,” Snelling said.
The venue was targeted, but it’s not clear who specifically was the target, police said.
The vehicle fled the scene immediately and no one has been taken into custody, police said. Two different calibers of shell casings were recovered, police said.
The victims killed were identified as Leon Andrew Henry, 25; Devonte Terrell Williamson, 23; Taylor Walker, 26; and Aviance King, 27, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office.
Fourteen others were wounded, including several who were hospitalized in critical condition, according to police. The injured victims are all in their 20s and 30s, and 11 of the 14 people hurt are women, police said.
“When I arrived last night it was absolute chaos,” Pastor Donovan Price, who works to help victims of violence, told reporters. “From people screaming, to blood on the streets, to people laying on the streets, a massive police presence. Just horrific. More than I’ve ever seen.”
The hospitals were “almost as chaotic” as the crime scene as people searched for their loved ones, Price said. “It can happen anywhere,” he warned. “It’s devastating.”
A second mass shooting also erupted on Chicago’s far South Side on Wednesday night, leaving four people hospitalized, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson said.
“We are frustrated, but we are also grieving,” Johnson said, adding, “We will not rest until there is full accountability.”
Despite the shootings, murders were down 32% year-to-date in the city as of June 29 and shooting incidents were down 39%, according to Chicago’s crime data.
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Russia hits Kyiv with massive air attack, biggest of war so far
LONDON — Russia overnight hit Ukraine with the biggest missile and drone attack of the war, launching a record number of drones at Kyiv.
Hundreds of Russian drones swarmed the capital all night as videos show huge fires and plumes of smoke on the skyline. Residents describe it as one of the most intense nights since the start of the full-scale invasion and people in Kyiv are waking up Friday morning to the city being blanketed by smoke from the fires still burning.
Russia launched over 500 drones, a huge number and the second time in less than a week it has launched the biggest air attack of the war. The attack comes after the Trump administration froze deliveries of critical air defense missiles to Ukraine.
The mayor of Kyiv said that at least 23 people were injured as many people spent the night sheltering in Kyiv’s metro system.
“Notably, the first air raid alerts in our cities and regions yesterday began to blare almost simultaneously with media reports discussing a phone call between President Trump and Putin,” Ukrainian President Zelenskyy wrote on Friday morning. “Yet again, Russia is showing it has no intention of ending the war and terror. Only around 9 a.m. today did the air raid alert end in Kyiv. It was a brutal, sleepless night.”
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