Ukraine Foreign Minister Kuleba submits resignation in major government shake-up, lawmaker says

(NEW YORK) — As the Israel-Hamas war continues, tensions are escalating after the assassinations of two Hamas and Hezbollah leaders this week.

Here’s how the news is developing:

Hamas leaders decline ‘new conditions’ in cease-fire talks

Hamas leaders are asking mediators of the cease-fire negotiations with Israel to present a plan based upon previous talks instead of engaging in new ones, according to a statement Sunday.

Hamas also appeared to decline to discuss the “new conditions” proposed to the cease-fire plan by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in July, saying Israel then “went on to escalate its aggression against our people and commit more massacres.”

The new development in the ongoing cease-fire negotiations came after a diplomatic push from the United States, Egypt and Qatar for a new round of talks to take place between Israel and Hamas on Aug. 15 in either Doha or Cairo. Israel agreed to send a delegation, but Hamas had yet to respond –- until now.

The upcoming talks were widely seen as the last, best possible chance at securing an agreement between the warring parties.

-ABC News’ Ghazi Balkiz, Nasser Atta

IDF expands evacuation orders in Khan Younis

The Israel Defense Forces on Sunday ordered civilians in the al-Jalaa neighborhood of northern Khan Younis to evacuate as Israeli troops began raiding the area it alleges is being used by Hamas terrorists.

The IDF said the area — part of a humanitarian zone the Israeli military had initially set up in the southwestern Gaza Strip — was being exploited by Hamas “for terrorist activity” and is now considered “dangerous.” As a result, the IDF said, the boundaries of the humanitarian zone would be adjusted to exclude the al-Jalaa neighborhood.

The move comes just days after the Israeli military launched a fresh assault on Khan Younis, ordering civilians to evacuate the heavily destroyed eastern districts, where many Palestinians had returned less than two weeks ago after the IDF’s last incursion into Gaza’s second-largest city in July, according to the U.N. Relief and Works Agency. The area was also once part of the designated humanitarian zone.

“Due to significant terrorist activity, exploitation of the Humanitarian Area for terrorist activity and rocket fire toward the State of Israel from the al-jalaa area, remaining in this area has become dangerous,” the IDF said in a statement Sunday morning. “Accordingly, at this time, the Humanitarian Area will be adjusted. The adjustment is being carried out in accordance with precise intelligence indicating that Hamas has embedded terrorist infrastructure in the area defined as a Humanitarian Area.”

The IDF said early warnings to civilians were being made to mitigate harm to the civilian population and keep civilians away from areas of combat.

-ABC News’ Morgan Winsor

World leaders react to Israeli attack on school killing 85 Palestinians

Leaders around the world have condemned an Israeli strike on a school in Gaza, making an appeal to the international bodies to stop the killing of civilians and protect displaced Palestinians. They also address the potential damage this attack has on the potential cease-fire negotiations.

“The deliberate killing of these huge numbers of unarmed civilians whenever the mediators’ efforts intensified to try to reach a formula for a ceasefire in the Strip is conclusive evidence of the absence of political will on the part of the Israeli side to end this fierce war,” the Egyptian foreign ministry said in a statement.

Qatar called for an independent international investigation into the strike and for full protection for displaced people.

“The State of Qatar has strongly condemned the Israeli occupation’s bombing of a school sheltering displaced people east of Gaza city, which led to dozens of martyrs and injured, and deemed it as horrific massacre and brutal crime against defenseless civilians and a flagrant infringement of the fundamental precepts of international humanitarian law,” Qatar said in a statement.

Turkey also called it “a new crime against humanity.”

“This attack demonstrated once again that the Netanyahu Government intends to sabotage the negotiations for a permanent ceasefire. International actors who do not take steps to stop Israel are complicit in Israel’s crimes,” the Turkish foreign ministry said in a statement.

The European Union said it was “horrified” by the images of the strike.

“At least 10 schools were targeted in the last weeks. There’s no justification for these massacres We are dismayed by the terrible overall death toll,” Josep Borrell High Representative of the EU said in a statement.

Francesca Albanese, United Nations Special Rapporteur, called Gaza the “largest and most shameful concentration camp of the 21st Century.”

“Israel is genociding the Palestinians one neighborhood at the time, one hospital at the time, one school at the time, one refugee camp at the time, one ‘safe zone’ at the time. With US and European weapons. And amid the indifference of all ‘civilised nations.’ May the Palestinians forgive us for our collective inability to protect them, honoring the most basic meaning of intl law,” Albanese said.

Scores killed following strike on school in Gaza City

Scores have been killed following a strike on Al-Tabeen School in Gaza City early Saturday.

Al-Tabeen School is in Al Darj area of Gaza city and the school was housing hundreds of displaced persons, officials in Gaza said.

Many of the displaced people sheltering at the school had been performing dawn prayers at the time of the strike, according to the Government Information Office in Gaza.

Initial reports from Gaza officials said almost 100 people have been killed and dozens wounded, with an official casualty count expected to come from the Palestinian Ministry of Health.

“Today, an Air Force aircraft attacked, under the intelligence guidance of the Israel Defense Forces, the Shin Bet and the Southern Command, terrorists who were operating in a military headquarters located in the ‘Al-Tabin’ school complex near the mosque in Darje Tafah area, which is used as a shelter for the residents of Gaza City,” read a statement from the IDF following the strike.

Gaza’s Civil Defence said two floors of the school were targeted: the first was housing women and the ground was a prayer hall for the displaced.

There were a total of “93 martyrs, including 11 children and 6 women, as a result of the massacre committed by the occupation against the displaced people in the Al-Tabaeen School in the Al-Daraj neighborhood,” according to the Gaza Civil Defense.

Israel raids eastern Khan Younis for at least 4th time in past month

For at least the fourth time in the past month, the Israel Defense Forces raided the eastern part of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip. Israeli forces have killed at least 29 people in the central and southern areas of Gaza so far on Friday, including 19 in Khan Younis, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run Ministry of Health.

The IDF ordered civilians east of Khan Younis to evacuate Thursday. On Friday morning, the IDF announced that its troops have begun “operational activity in the Khan Younis area” after receiving “intelligence indicating the presence of terrorists and terror infrastructure.”

The IDF withdrew from the east of Khan Younis just 10 days ago.

Since dawn on Friday, there have been dozens of bombardments and shelling in various areas across war-torn Gaza, including the southern city of Khan Younis. The hardest-hit areas were Al-Maghazi camp, east of Al-Nuseirat camp; the eastern areas of Khan Younis; Bait Lahia in the north of Gaza; and Zaytoon neighborhood in the east of Gaza City.

At least 23 people have been killed in the central and southern areas of Gaza so far on Friday, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run Ministry of Health.

US official says there’s ‘significant’ work to be done in cease-fire negotiations

A senior U.S. official told ABC News on Thursday that the call from President Joe Biden, the ‎‏Egyptian President and the Qatari Amir for Israel and Hamas to return to the negotiating table to work out a cease-fire deal was a step forward, despite more work needing to be done.

“It’s not like the agreement is going to be ready to be signed on Thursday,” the official said. “There’s still a significant amount of work to do, but we do believe that what’s left here really can be bridged, and there’s really just no time to lose.”

The official said that both Israel and Hamas have “very firm positions” on “about four or five issues” each. And though the official said they might seem to be “unbridgeable,” they have been able to find a way forward working through the issues one by one.

“We are determined to do all that we possibly can, recognizing that lives are on the line,” the official added.

US, Egypt and Qatar call on Israel and Hamas to resume cease-fire talks

In a joint statement, leaders from the U.S., Egypt and Qatar called on Israel and Hamas to resume discussions on Gaza.

The statement — signed by President Joe Biden, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and Amir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani of Qatar — called for both sides to meet in Doha or Cairo on Aug. 15.

“‎‏It is time to bring immediate relief both to the long-suffering people of Gaza as well as the long-suffering hostages and their families,” the statement read. “The time has come to conclude the ceasefire and hostages and detainees release deal.”

Palestinian death toll climbs to 39,755

At least 39,755 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since Oct. 7, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry.

On Oct. 7, about 1,200 Israelis were killed and more than 200 were taken hostage.

IDF soldiers accused of abusing Palestinian prisoners denied release

Five Israel Defense Forces soldiers who are in custody under suspicion of aggravated abuse of a Palestinian prisoner have been denied release by a military court on Thursday, according to the IDF.

The Military Court of Appeals approved the detention of the suspects until Sunday, stating that from the evidence presented, there is “reasonable suspicion of the commission of the acts attributed to them. The military court also determined that there was a clear cause of danger from the attributed acts,” the IDF said.

United Nations experts have called the reported widespread torture of Palestinian detainees a “preventable crime against humanity.”

“Reports of alleged torture and sexual violence in Israel’s Sde Teiman prison are grossly illegal and revolting, but they only represent the tip of the iceberg, independent human rights experts warned,” U.N. experts said on Tuesday.

Around 9,500 Palestinians, including hundreds of children and women, are currently imprisoned — about one-third of them without charge or trial, according to the U.N.

27 killed in Gaza, IDF says Hamas weapons workshop found in Khan Younis

At least 27 people were killed in different parts of the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health. Of those killed, 18 Palestinians were killed in eastern and central Khan Yunis.

The Israeli Defense Forces said they found a Hamas weapons manufacturing workshop in a tunnel below Khan Yunis in a statement Wednesday.

-ABC News’ Diaa Ostaz and Jordana Miller

Egypt advises airlines to avoid Iranian airspace

Egypt has issued a notice to all Egyptian airlines to not fly over Iranian airspace at times when Iran is conducting military exercises on Wednesday and Thursday.

59.3% buildings in Gaza Strip damaged or destroyed, CUNY analysis shows

A new map based on open-access satellite data shows the damage across the Gaza Strip through July 27, where an estimated 59.3% of buildings have been damaged or destroyed since Oct. 5, 2023.

According to the analysis, most of the destruction in July was in Rafah, where 750 additional buildings were damaged or destroyed last month, bringing the total infrastructural damage in the southernmost city of Gaza to 45.4%.

The damage analysis of the Copernicus Sentinel-1 satellite data was done by Corey Scher of CUNY Graduate Center and Jamon Van Den Hoek of Oregon State University.

-ABC News’ Camilla Alcini

2 killed, 6 injured in Israeli strike on southern Lebanon

At least two people were killed and six others were injured in an Israeli drone raid on the town of Joya in southern Lebanon Wednesday.

The attack comes as Israel awaits a military response from Hezbollah or Iran after it assassinated leaders of Hezbollah and Hamas.

Hezbollah said it carried out three retaliatory strikes on northern Israel on Wednesday — attacking the Al-Raheb site with artillery shells, the Jal Al-Alam site with artillery shells and the Al-Malikiyah site with rockets.

IDF calls Sinwar terrorist following appointment, remains committed to killing him

Shortly after Hamas announced it appointed Yahya Sinwar as a the head of its political bureau after the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, a spokesperson for the IDF said Israel remains committed to killing him.

“Yahya Sinwar is a terrorist, who is responsible for the most brutal terrorist attack in history – October 7th. There is only one place for Yahya Sinwar, and it is beside Mohammed Deif and the rest of the October 7th terrorists. That is the only place we’re preparing and intending for him,” Daniel Hagari said in an interview with Al-Arabia.

Last Israeli designated missing after Oct. 7 attack confirmed dead

Bilha Yinon, the last hostage who was unaccounted for by the Israeli government, has now been confirmed dead.

Yinon was killed on Oct. 7, according to the Israel Defense Forces.

Yahya Sinwar will replace Haniyeh as head of Hamas political bureau

Hamas has announced that Yahya Sinwar will replace Ismail Haniyeh as the head of the group’s political bureau after Israel’s assassination of Haniyeh. Sinwar was the head of Hamas in Gaza.

Sinwar has a $400,000 bounty on his head following the group’s Oct. 7 attack on Israel.

Sinwar was chosen unanimously in negotiations managed by leadership, according to a top Hamas official.

-ABC News’ Nasser Atta and Ghazi Balkiz

‘Hezbollah is obligated to respond’ to Israel, Nasrallah says

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah has vowed to respond to the Israeli assassination of senior official Fouad Shukr, and predicted a response from Iran after Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed in Tehran last week.

“After the assassination of Commander Sayyed Fouad Shukr, Hezbollah is obligated to respond, and the enemy is waiting, anticipating, and calculating that every shout at him is a response. This Israeli weeklong waiting in anticipation — for a Hezb response — is part of the punishment, part of the response,” Nasrallah said in a speech Tuesday.

Multiple IDF troops injured in Rafah, humanitarian road closed

Several Israeli troops were injured and a humanitarian road was shut down after anti-tank missiles were fired toward them during operations in Rafah.

Injured troops have been evacuated to a hospital for medical treatment.

The Kerem Shalom Crossing and the other entry routes for humanitarian aid are operating, according to the IDF.

Lebanon aims to prevent Hezbollah response to avoid wider war, says foreign minister

Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib said the country is working to ensure that Hezbollah’s response to Israel does not trigger a total war, saying, “It would not benefit any of the countries involved.”

“Only those who want to incite conflict would gain from such a situation. We, as officials, do not want any war. Therefore, if a response is necessary, it should not be collective or so severe that it escalates into a broader conflict,” Bou Habib said.

At least 8 Palestinians killed during Israeli military raids in occupied West Bank

At least eight Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces during military raids in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday, Palestinian health authorities said.

Five were killed in the city of Jenin, two in the nearby village of Khafer Dan and one in the city of Bethlehem, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in the West Bank.

Earlier, the Palestine Red Crescent Society said at least 15 people were injured during the raid in Jenin on Tuesday. A spokesperson for PRCS told ABC News that the organization’s medical teams were stopped by Israeli troops from reaching the wounded.

ABC News has reached out to the Israel Defense Forces for comment.

-ABC News’ Nasser Atta and Camilla Alcini

Palestinians in West Bank being blocked from medical care: New report

Palestinians in the West Bank are being restricted access to medical care, including for physical injuries and mental trauma, according to a new report from Doctors Without Borders.

“Access to medical care for Palestinians in Hebron is rapidly deteriorating because of restrictions imposed by Israeli forces and violence perpetrated by Israeli soldiers and settlers,” Doctors Without Borders said.

Ministry of Health clinics across Hebron, in the West Bank, have been forced to close, pharmacies have run short of medications and ambulances transporting the sick and wounded have been obstructed and attacked. Faced with restrictions on their movements and the threat of violence, many sick people delay seeing a doctor or have no choice but to stop medical treatments altogether, according to data collected by Doctors Without Borders between June 2023 and April 2024.

“The movement restrictions, and harassment and violence by Israeli forces and settlers, is inflicting immense and unnecessary suffering on Palestinians in Hebron,” said Frederieke van Dongen, the group’s humanitarian affairs manager.

Israeli prisons are ‘network of torture’ for Palestinians: Human rights group

B’tselem, a major Israeli human rights group, published a report alleging that the Israeli prison system has become a “network of torture camps” for Palestinians arrested since Oct. 7.

The group reported abuse including “frequent acts of severe, arbitrary violence; sexual assault; humiliation; deliberate starvation and sleep deprivation.”

The number of Palestinians in Israeli jails and detention centers stands at 9,623, the rights group said, including, 4,781 held without charge. An estimated 60 Palestinians have died in Israeli custody.

The Israeli army and government have denied allegations of systematic abuse, and the prisons service said it is are not aware of the claims in the report.

But, Itamar Ben-Gvir, the far-right minister for national security who is in charge of the prisons service, has long championed the deteriorating conditions in prisons for Palestinian prisoners, who he said are “terrorists,” as a matter of policy.

“Since I assumed the position of Minister of National Security, one of the highest goals I have set for myself is to worsen the conditions of the terrorists in the prisons, and to reduce their rights to the minimum required by law,” he said in July. “Everything published about the abominable conditions of these vile murderers in prison was true.”

In response to claims of overcrowding, Ben-Gvir has advocated the death penalty as a response.

Israel, Hezbollah exchange fire, killing at least five in Lebanon and injuring two in Israel

Hezbollah fired a barrage of rockets and drones toward northern Israel on Tuesday morning and afternoon, injuring at least two people, after an earlier Israeli airstrike killed at least five people in southern Lebanon, according to authorities on both sides.

The Lebanese militant group said in separate statements that Tuesday’s attacks against Israel — at least four so far — were carried out both in support of the Palestinian people in the war-torn Gaza Strip and in response to recent Israeli airstrikes on southern Lebanon.

One of those drones was intercepted by Israeli air defense and the falling shrapnel injured “several civilians” south of Nahariya, the northernmost coastal city of Israel, according to the IDF.

Israel’s Magen David Adam rescue service said its first responders were deployed to the scene and treated a 30-year-old man in serious condition and a 30-year-old woman in mild-to-moderate condition with shrapnel injuries to the lower limbs. Both patients were transported to the Galilee Medical Center in Nahariya.

“We saw the male unconscious in the car with a severe head injury from shrapnel. A female who was fully conscious with shrapnel injuries to her lower limbs was in a parking lot nearby,” paramedic Roi Vishna and senior EMT Noam Levi said in a joint statement released by MDA.” We treated the male including ventilating him and providing medications, and evacuated him by MICU in very serious condition to hospital. The female casualty was evacuated in mild to moderate condition.”

Hezbollah launched the counterattacks after an Israeli airstrike on the town of Mifdoun in southern Lebanon killed at least five people on Tuesday morning, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health. It was not immediately clear whether civilians were among the casualties.

Israel and Hezbollah have exchanged near-daily strikes for the past 10 months amid the ongoing war in Gaza. But regional tensions have soared following last week’s assassinations of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Iran’s capital and Hezbollah commander Fouad Shukur in Lebanon’s capital.

Israel kills another Hezbollah commander

The Israel Defense Forces confirmed on Monday they had killed another Hezbollah commander in a strike on Lebanon. Ali Jamal Aldin Jawad, a commander in Hezbollah’s Radwan Force, was killed in the strike.

The death was also confirmed by Hezbollah.

“His elimination significantly degrades the capabilities of the Hezbollah terrorist organization to promote and carry out terror activities from southern Lebanon against northern Israel,” the IDF said.

Israel’s killing of a Hezbollah official in Beirut, Fuad Shukr, and a Hamas official in Iran, Ismail Haniyeh, has pushed the Middle East to the brink of further war.

Remains of about 80 deceased Palestinians returned after being taken by IDF

The deceased remains of an estimated 80 Palestinians — which Israeli forces took from Gazan cemeteries to identify whether hostages had been buried there — were returned by the Israel Defense Forces.

The bodies were decomposed beyond recognition, with Gazan officials saying between three and four bodies were in each bag. They will be reburied in a mass grave in Khan Younis.

A Gazan civil defense official on the ground said there is no data as to who these individuals were.

“I wished I could find him, to be at peace,” Suwa Abu Rajilah, a mother who traveled to the site to see if her son, killed in the war, was there. “To say I buried him, but I couldn’t find him.”

-ABC News’ Dia Ostaz

9 UN employees fired after investigation into ties to Oct. 7 attack

The U.N. has fired nine employees following a lengthy investigation into ties to the Oct. 7 attacks, the organization said.

The U.N.’s Office of Internal Oversight Services investigated 19 staff members with the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East as part of the probe.

For nine of the staffers, evidence was found that they “may have been involved in the armed attacks,” the U.N. said.

“The employment of these individuals will be terminated in the interests of the Agency,” the organization said in a statement.

There was no evidence or insufficient evidence that the other investigated staffers had been involved, they added.

At least 7 Hezbollah attacks Monday

In another active day on the northern Israeli border, Hezbollah launched at least seven attacks on Monday.

The IDF said they “successfully intercepted” the projectiles, and no injuries were reported.

Hezbollah claimed responsibility for the attacks, saying in a statement they had launched them “in support of our steadfast Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip and in support of their valiant and honorable resistance.”

The IDF also said Monday that they had “identified a terrorist cell operating a drone in the area of Meiss El Jabal in southern Lebanon.”

“Shortly following the identification, the IAF struck and eliminated the terrorists,” they said.

Israeli officer and soldier injured in aerial attack from Lebanon: IDF

An Israel Defense Forces (IDF) officer and a soldier were injured after an aerial attack in northern Israel’s upper Galilee region near Ayelet HaShahar early Monday morning local time, the IDF said in a statement.

The aerial targets crossed from Lebanon, the IDF said.

“Israel Fire Services are currently operating to extinguish a fire that was ignited in the area as a result of the attack,” the IDF said.

Netanyahu says Israel will strike wherever necessary

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that Israel is prepared to stand against attacks from Iran and its proxies.

“Iran and its detractors seek to surround us with a choke ring of terrorism on seven fronts. Their open aggression is insatiable,” Netanyahu said during a state memorial service commemorating the death of Revisionist Zionist leader Ze’ev Jabotinsky in 1940.

Netanyahu added, “We are determined to stand against them on every front, in every arena, far and near. “

Netanyahu’s comments came just days after the assassination in Iran of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh. He was killed in an explosion on Wednesday at a guest house in Tehran that he was staying in while attending the inauguration of Iran’s new president, Masoud Pezeshkian. Israel has not claimed responsibility for Haniyeh’s death.

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has called for “revenge” against Israel.

Haniyeh’s assassination followed the death of Mohammed Deif, commander of Hamas’ military wing, in a “precise, targeted strike” in the southern Gaza town of Khan Younis on July 13. Deif was allegedly one of the masterminds of the Oct. 7 attack on Israel, according to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).

IDF officials also announced that they killed top Hezbollah military commander Fuad Shukr in a precision missile strike Tuesday in Beirut, Lebanon. Officials claim he had been orchestrating drone and rocket attacks on northern Israel, including one on July 27 in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights that killed 12 children and teenagers playing soccer.

“Anyone who murders our citizens, anyone who harms our country, will not be cleared of responsibility,” Netanyahu said Sunday. “He will pay a very heavy price. Our long hand strikes in the Gaza Strip, in Yemen, in Beirut, wherever necessary.”

Netanyahu said Israel’s goals are to “secure our future” and the ensure that hostages taken by Hamas terrorists during the Oct. 7 attack in Israel are returned home.

“We will continue to press the pedal,” Netanyahu said. “We did not let up from the pressure in all combat areas. We will take an offensive, creative, persistent initiative — until victory comes.”

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(NEW YORK) — As the Israel-Hamas war continues, the latest round of cease-fire discussions appears to have reached an impasse.

Meanwhile, after six hostages were found dead in Gaza, protests erupted in Israel. Protesters have demanded its government bring the hostages home.

Here’s how the news is developing:

Hamas says no deal if the IDF doesn’t withdraw as negotiations appear stuck

Hamas said it would not agree to a cease-fire agreement with Israel that doesn’t include a complete withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, including the Philadelphia axis and the Rafah crossing, as negotiations appear to be at a standstill.

Hamas is also demanding the return of displaced Palestinians to their homes and an exchange of Palestinian prisoners held in Israel for hostages.

“We do not need any new papers or proposals from any party. We refuse to return to point zero or go around in a vicious circle, in order to achieve Netanyahu’s goals,” the Hamas Political Bureau said in a statement Thursday.

-ABC News’ Nasser Atta

Official pushes back on claim US is too optimistic on deal

The National Security Council is pushing back on claims the U.S. is being to optimistic about a cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas, stressing that it is “actively engaging counterparts in Qatar, Egypt, Israel, to see what we can do to try to move this forward,” spokesperson John Kirby said Thursday.

Kirby said 90% of a deal has been agreed to.

“You call that optimistic. I call that accurate. That’s how close we believe we are. That’s where we have gotten to. The basic framework of the deal has been agreed to,” Kirby said.

“What we’re talking about now is the implementing details, and specifically the exchange of prisoners. And now that calculus is different because of what happened over the weekend,” he said, referring to the death of six hostages in Gaza.

Kirby acknowledged that the administration is “frustrated that we still haven’t been able to conclude this deal.”

“We believe that these differences can be resolved. What the next step looks like in terms of resolving them? I think we just don’t know right now,” Kirby said.

“We want to see the hostages home as soon as possible. But I would also say that as frustrating as it has been at times and as unhelpful as not just public comments, but even private machinations in the negotiation process have been to closure of the deal, it has not dimmed one bit President Biden’s commitment to trying to see this through,” he said.

-ABC News’ Molly Nagle

Israeli strikes hit humanitarian area in Gaza killing 5

Five people were killed after Israeli strikes hit a location “in the humanitarian area in Deir al-Balah,” near the Al-Aqsa hospital, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health and Israeli Defense Forces.

Israeli forces were conducting a “targeted strike on terrorists who operated in a Command and Control Center,” used by Hamas and the Islamic Jihad there, the IDF said in the release.

-ABC News’ Jordana Miller and Sami Zyara

6 killed after Israeli operation in West Bank

Six people were killed in the Tubas and Far’a neighborhoods in the West Bank after an Israeli operation was carried out overnight, the Israel Defense Forces and Palestinian Ministry of Health said in statements Thursday.

The IDF called the operation in Tubas and Far’a a “counterterrorism operation.”

Since the IDF operation began last week, 39 people have been killed and about 145 people have been injured in the West Bank, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said the government must “remain focused” on the “resurgence of terrorism in the West Bank,” in remarks Thursday.

-ABC News’ Jordana Miller and Nasser Atta

Next phase of polio vaccination campaign begins

The polio vaccination campaign in Gaza is making “great progress,” according to United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini.

The World Health Organization said the next phase of the campaign begins Thursday in southern Gaza targeting an estimated 340,000 children under 10.

West Bank death toll nears 700 since Oct. 7, health ministry says

The Palestinian Ministry of Health said that at least 39 people have been killed and 145 injured in the West Bank over the past week, amid Israel’s major — and still unfolding — operation there.

Those casualties bring the total number of deaths in the West Bank since Oct. 7 to at least 691, with an estimated 5,700 injured.

Israel minister vows ‘heavy price’ for Hamas amid cease-fire push

Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz has called on his compatriots to “remain strong and united” as anti-government and cease-fire protests roil the nation.

“Anyone who cold-bloodedly murders six hostages is not seeking a deal,” Katz said, referring to Hamas.

“Hamas must pay a heavy price for this horrific crime — Israel will respond with full force,” Katz added.

Katz’s tweet appeared to reference an Axios article published Wednesday suggesting growing White House doubt that Hamas wants to secure a deal, following the recent killing of six Gaza hostages — including American-Israeli citizen Hersh Goldberg-Polin.

Hamas says Netanyahu wants to ‘thwart’ deal

Hamas again accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of sabotaging cease-fire and hostage release negotiations.

“We do not need new proposals. What is required now is to pressure Netanyahu and his government and oblige them to what has been agreed upon,” the group said on its official Telegram channel on Wednesday night.

“We warn against falling into Netanyahu’s trap and tricks, as he uses negotiations to prolong the aggression against our people,” the group said.

Netanyahu’s insistence on retaining military control over the Philadelphi Corridor along the Gaza-Egypt frontier has been cited by Hamas — and on Wednesday by a U.S. official — as a key obstacle to any deal.

The prime minister’s decision to keep Israeli forces there “aims to thwart reaching an agreement,” the group wrote.

Netanyahu has blamed Hamas for the failure to reach an agreement, citing its recent killing of six hostages in Gaza as proof that the group does not intend to reach an accord.

Prisoner exchange, Philadelphi corridor sticking points in cease-fire deal: US official

There are two areas of dispute regarding hostage release and cease-fire negotiations — the prisoner exchange and withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Philadelphi corridor — according to a U.S. senior administration official.

The official told reporters Wednesday that “90% of this deal has been agreed to,” while also pushing back on the suggestion that the Philadelphi corridor is the only remaining sticking point, noting that the prisoner exchange was the focus for most of last week’s discussions.

The official called the negotiations with Hamas on the prisoner exchange “pretty frustrating,” and said that “until that is worked out, you’re not going to have a deal.”

The official noted that negotiations have been taking place off a list of hostages — a list that is now smaller after the killing of six hostages over the weekend.

“You know, it’s horrific. And Hamas is threatening to execute more hostages,” the official said. “We all know who we’re dealing with. We’re dealing with a terrorist group.”

“For each hostage, there’s a certain number of Palestinian prisoners that will come out. So, you just have fewer hostages as part of the deal in phase one. It’s tragic and awful, and you know, it’s affecting all of us,” the official added.

Nearly 100 projectiles launched toward northern Israel from Lebanon: IDF

Approximately 95 projectiles were launched toward northern Israel from Lebanon on Wednesday, according to the Israel Defense Forces.

There were several fires from the projectile launches in northern Israel, but no injuries were reported, the IDF said.

Hezbollah confirmed in several statements various attacks on northern Israel on Wednesday.

Israeli forces struck targets in southern Lebanon in response, the IDF said.

-ABC News’ Jordana Miller and Ghazi Balkiz

Netanyahu defends keeping troops in Philadelphi corridor

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu doubled down on his position that Israeli forces cannot leave the Philadelphi corridor and still achieve Israel’s goals of the war in Gaza during a press conference in Jerusalem Wednesday.

“I’m telling you that if we relieve the pressure, if we get out of the Philadelphi corridor, we are not going to get the hostages back,” Netanyahu said.

The Philadelphi corridor — a narrow strip of land on the Gaza side of the Gaza-Egypt border — has been one of the main sticking points in reaching a hostage and cease-fire deal.

Netanyahu said Wednesday that Israel needs to control the corridor to release the remaining hostages in Gaza.

“I’m committed to returning the remaining 101 [hostages]. I’ll do everything to get them, but leaving Philadelphi does not advance the release of the hostages, because the deal cannot be advanced,” he said.

-ABC News’ Ellie Kaufman

Israel hits southern Lebanon after dozens of rockets fired, IDF says

Around 65 projectiles were fired into Israel from Lebanon on Wednesday, the Israel Defense Forces said, with air raid sirens sounding and air defense units active in border areas.

“The IDF Aerial Defense Array successfully intercepted some of the projectiles, and some fell in open areas,” the force said.

“A number of fires were ignited by fallen projectiles,” it added, noting that emergency services were responding.

The IDF said it was “currently striking Hezbollah terror targets in southern Lebanon.”

Hamas threatens Netanyahu with more hostage deaths

Hamas has issued a new threat tying Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s premiership to the fate of the surviving Gaza hostages.

“Aggression stops = prisoners return alive,” a Wednesday morning post on the group’s official Telegram channel said. “Aggression continues = prisoners’ fate unknown.”

“Every day that Netanyahu continues to rule may mean a new coffin,” the post — which was written in English, Arabic and Hebrew — continued. “The decision is yours.”

Hamas and Netanyahu have blamed each other for the failure to reach a cease-fire deal. Hamas said Netanyahu’s demands are “aimed at obstructing reaching an agreement to preserve his power.”

Netanyahu, for his part, said this weekend of the militant group: “Whoever murders hostages — does not want a deal.”

There are 101 hostages still inside Gaza, around half of whom are believed to still be alive.

187,000 Gaza children receive polio vaccine, WHO says

More than 187,000 children in central Gaza have received polio vaccines since Sunday, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus wrote on X on Wednesday that the “first phase of polio vaccination in central Gaza is complete,” with more than 187,000 children under the age of 10 vaccinated.

That is higher than the target number of 156,500, Ghebreyesus said.

“Four fixed sites will continue to offer polio vaccination for the next three days in central Gaza to ensure no child is missed,” the WHO chief added.

Preparations are underway to expand the vaccine roll out campaign into southern Gaza, Ghebreyesus said. Vaccinations there are expected to begin on Thursday.

Palestinian health authorities and United Nations agencies hope to vaccinate 640,000 children.

Israel agreed to partial pauses in the fighting in Gaza to facilitate the polio vaccination campaign, saying the drive will continue through Sept. 9 and last eight hours a day.

“We ask for the humanitarian pauses to continue to be respected,” Ghebreyesus wrote. “We continue to call for a cease-fire.”

Protesters plan gathering at Netanyahu ally’s home

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum will again lead cease-fire and hostage release demonstrations across Israel on Wednesday, according to a schedule posted to social media.

“The public is called to join and come together with the families of the abductees to the houses of the ministers and coalition members and hold demonstrations and protest vigils demanding that they exercise their authority to bring about a deal now,” the Forum wrote on X.

Among the gatherings will be one outside the Jerusalem home of Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer — a former member of the dissolved war cabinet and long considered a close ally of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Activists plan to protest at the homes of eight other government ministers and three members of parliament, the Forum said.

Far-right minister ‘working to stop’ cease-fire talks

Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said he is “working to stop the negotiations with Hamas,” as talks over a cease-fire and hostage release deal continue under massive public and international pressure.

Ben-Gvir — one of the most vocally hawkish members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government — wrote on X that Israel should end negotiations and cut fuel and electricity to Gaza in response to Hamas’ recent killing of six hostages in the southern strip.

“Continuing the negotiations only spurs them to produce more and more terror,” including in the West Bank, Ben-Gvir said.

Ben-Gvir is a longstanding proponent of expanding Israeli settlements in the West Bank. He has called on the government to “encourage” Israelis to settle in Gaza while suggesting “voluntary emigration” of Palestinians from the territory.

Ben-Gvir was convicted of incitement to racism and supporting a terror organization in 2008, related to an anti-Arab placard he displayed at a protest following a Palestinian terrorist attack in Jerusalem. Signs referring to the far-right Kach movement — a Jewish group banned as a terror organization — were also found in his car.

Emhoff says parents of Hersh Goldberg-Polin told him, Harris they don’t want son’s death to ‘be in vain’

Second gentleman Doug Emhoff said Tuesday night that the parents of Oct. 7 hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin, who the Israeli military found had been killed last week, do not want their son’s “death to be in vain.”

Emhoff opened up about the recent conversation he and his wife, Vice President Kamala Harris, had with the couple after learning of the death of their son.

Speaking at a vigil hosted at the Adas Israel Congregation synagogue in Washington, D.C., which was organized to honor the memory of the six Israeli hostages found killed by Hamas in Gaza, Emhoff said Rachel Goldberg-Polin and Jon Polin remained committed to seeing the remaining hostages released.

“And yet, with this unspeakable tragedy that they were going through … they were comforting us, but also asking about the latest in the negotiations,” Emhoff told those gathered at the vigil about the call with the grieving couple, which occurred last week. “They were asking how we can use this terrible moment to make progress on the deal. And they told the vice president, in no uncertain terms, they do not want Hersh’s death to be in vain. And they spoke with such grace, such compassion, such strength. And even though part of Rachel and Jon’s world had just ended, they were somehow still looking forward and looking out for others.”

DOJ charges senior Hamas leaders over involvement in Americans’ deaths in Oct. 7 attack

The Justice Department unsealed charges Tuesday targeting multiple senior members of Hamas’ leadership for their alleged involvement in the kidnapping and murdering of Americans during the Oct. 7 attack.

The criminal complaint, unsealed in the Southern District of New York, names six members of Hamas’ leadership structure and details extensively their terrorist activities on behalf of the group.

White House says Israel originally agreed to remove IDF from areas of Philadelphi corridor

The White House is pushing back on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s stance of keeping Israeli troops along the Philadelphi corridor — a narrow strip of land on the Gaza side of the Gaza-Egypt border — saying the prime minister originally agreed to removing troops in the Israel-approved framework that was announced in May.

“I’m not going to get into a debate with the prime minister and what he said over the weekend about the Philadelphi corridor,” White House national security communications adviser John Kirby said. “The deal itself, the proposal, including the bridging proposal that we started working with … included the removal of Israeli Defense Forces from all densely populated areas, and that includes those areas along that corridor. That’s the proposal that Israel had agreed to.”

Kirby acknowledged Israel’s belief that they need “some security” along the corridor, but Kirby did not give the U.S. position on whether the administration supports the IDF remaining in less dense areas along the border.

“The proposal says that they have to remove themselves to the east from densely populated areas — and that core essential element of the proposal has not changed,” Kirby said. “But the Israelis have said publicly that they believe that … they would need some security along that corridor.”

-ABC News’ Justin Ryan Gomez

Gantz: Netanyahu is holding up a deal

National Unity party leader Benny Gantz slammed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday, claiming he is holding up a cease-fire and hostage deal.

Gantz said that on Monday, Netanyahu in his speech “did not look directly at the public and told the truth: That he will not bring the kidnapped alive, that he will not truly protect the southern bracket, that he will not return the residents of the north to their homes, that he will not deny Iran nuclear weapons.”

“This did not surprise me, because during the period that we sat in the War Cabinet, Netanyahu delayed the ability to move forward with the abducted deals serially, including in the first outline,” Gantz said. “This does not surprise me because already at the beginning of the war, when we asked to extend the military pressure to Khan Yunis and then to Rafah, Netanyahu hesitated and stopped.”

“The time has come to say yes and move forward: we need to bring a deal – either in stages or in one stage,” Gantz said.

Netanyahu in response laid out the Israeli military’s recent successes.

“Since Gantz and his party resigned from the government, Israel has eliminated the Hamas Chief of Staff and the Hezbollah Chief of Staff, attacked the Houthis, captured the Philadelphia axis – Hamas’s armament pipeline – and carried out a pre-emptive strike against Hezbollah that thwarted its malicious plan and destroyed thousands of rockets aimed at the Galilee,” Netanyahu said. “Whoever does not contribute to the victory and the return of our hostages, it is better not to interfere.”

-ABC News’ Will Gretsky
 

Thousands gather for new protest in Tel Aviv

Thousands gathered in Tel Aviv Tuesday for a new protest organized by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum.

The event was led by the younger members of the Hostages and Missing Families Forum who are calling for a deal to bring all of the hostages home, the organization said.

43 killed in Israeli operation in Gaza

Forty-three people have been killed from ongoing operations in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health.

Israeli forces said its soldiers “struck a compound where Hamas terrorists were operating” and killed eight Hamas members. The strike was near the Al-Ahli hospital compound but wasn’t within the hospital premises, the IDF said.

“Prior to the strike, numerous steps were taken to mitigate the risk of harming civilians, including the use of precise munitions, aerial surveillance, and additional intelligence,” the IDF said in a statement.

-ABC News’ Sami Zayara and Jordana Miller

Kirby hedges on ‘final proposal’ reports, says Biden is personally still working on deal

White House national security communications adviser John Kirby hedged on reports that the U.S. is putting forward a “final proposal” when it comes to hostage negotiations, saying the administration — including President Joe Biden – is still working to get a deal.

Kirby refused to give any details about the current proposal, or how it might differ from previous offers put forward, but he stressed that the deal is “actively” being worked on with Qatar and Egypt.

“The president himself is personally involved in working with our team and working with leaders around the world to secure this deal,” Kirby said, adding that this weekend’s recovery of six slain hostages “underscores the sense of urgency that we have.”

Asked about the United Kingdom’s new restrictions on some arms exports to Israel, Kirby said he would not “comment one way or another on the decisions that our British counterparts made.”

U.K. Foreign Secretary David Lammy told Parliament on Monday about 30 of its 350 export licenses were suspended because “there does exist a clear risk that they might be used to commit or facilitate a serious violation of international humanitarian law.”

“I can just tell you that, No. 1: We’re going to continue to do we have to do to support Israel’s defensive capabilities,” Kirby said. “No. 2: We have, as I’ve said many times, reviewed individual reports as best we can, and talking to the Israelis about individual reports about compliance with international humanitarian law. And as we speak, there’s been no determination by the United States that they have violated international humanitarian [law].”

-ABC News’ Molly Nagle

Al-Shifa Hospital reopens 2 departments

Al-Shifa Hospital, the largest and most comprehensive hospital in the Gaza Strip, reopened two of its departments on Sunday after facing shelling, raids and two sieges in the ongoing war, Al-Shifa Medical Complex Director Dr. Marwan Abu Saada told ABC News.

The reopened departments are the Emergency and Accidents Department — which has 70 beds, two operating rooms, one intensive care unit room and one X-ray room — and the Kidney Dialysis Department, which has about 22 kidney dialysis machines and serves 36 patients with kidney failure, Abu Saada said.

The hospital had capacity for 800 beds before the war, Abu Saada said.

“As for the medical staff, there is a large deficit in medical personnel, but at least we want to work and serve the community,” he said.

The maternity building will undergo a six-month restoration to become a general surgery building, he added.

-ABC News’ Camilla Alcini

Cease-fire protesters plan action near Tel Aviv Defense Ministry

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum announced a fresh protest scheduled for 7 p.m. local time Tuesday in Tel Aviv, close to the entrance of the Defense Ministry building.

The action will be “led by the younger members of the families,” the Forum wrote in a post on X, who will “call for a deal to bring all 101 hostages home.”

Attendees will protest what the Forum called “the abandonment of the hostages in Hamas captivity.”

Additional demonstrations elsewhere will include a gathering outside the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, a protest outside Foreign Minister Israel Katz’s residence in Kfar Ahim, one in front of Agriculture Minister Avi Dichter’s home in Ashkelon and another outside Deputy Prime Minister Yariv Levin’s home in Modi’in.

Gaza polio vaccination drive reaches 160,000 children

Some 160,000 Gaza children received their first vaccination for polio on Sunday and Monday, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.

The emergency rollout began on Sunday, facilitated by a partial pause in fighting in the strip. Medical teams in the central part of the territory said they were able to vaccinate 72,611 children on the first day of the campaign.

Palestinian health authorities and United Nations agencies said they were hoping to vaccinate 640,000 children during the push. Israel agreed to some pauses in fighting to support the campaign, though airstrikes have continued in its first two days.

Israel has said the vaccination program will continue through Sept. 9 and last eight hours a day.

Polio is among the illnesses feared to be thriving in Gaza after 10 months of war. The strip’s long-standing humanitarian difficulties have been exacerbated by the destruction of health care facilities, critical infrastructure, and the displacement — sometimes repeated displacement — of most of the territory’s residents.

Gaza recently reported its first polio case in 25 years — a 10-month-old boy, now paralyzed in a leg. The World Health Organization said the case suggests there could be hundreds more infected who are not symptomatic.

Netanyahu asks hostage families for forgiveness, says pressure should be directed at Hamas

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is asking for forgiveness from the families of the six slain hostages whose bodies were recovered this weekend.

“I ask you for forgiveness that we did not succeed to bring your loved ones back alive. We were close, but we did not succeed,” Netanyahu said at a Monday news conference.

Netanyahu again said the Israel Defense Forces must maintain a presence on the Egyptian border, but he said the IDF does not need a “large” presence of forces there. It needs groups of forces in key areas all along the border, he said. Netanyahu also reiterated that the IDF must maintain a presence in the Philadelphi corridor to reach the goals of the war.

When asked how he would define “total victory” in the war, Netanyahu responded, “When Hamas no longer rules Gaza — we throw them out. I would define the end of the war of World War II when the Nazis no longer ruled Germany. To do that you need to have a military victory and you have to have also a political victory to destroy their governance.”

Netanyahu also said that international “pressure” must be directed at Hamas, not Israel.

“These murderers executed six of our hostages, they shot them in the back of the head. And now after this we’re asked to show seriousness, we’re asked to make concessions? What message does this send Hamas?” he said.

Netanyahu added, “I don’t believe President [Joe] Biden or anyone serious about achieving peace and achieving the release [of hostages] can seriously ask Israel to make these concessions. We’ve already made them. Hamas has to make concessions.”

A Hamas military spokesman said in a new statement the Israeli hostages won’t be freed by force.

“Netanyahu’s insistence on freeing the prisoners through military pressure instead of concluding a deal will mean their return to their families in coffins, and their families will have to choose between dead or alive,” the spokesperson said.

-ABC News’ Jordana Miller

Biden: ‘We’re in the middle of negotiations’ on hostage, cease-fire deal

President Joe Biden told reporters “we’re still negotiating” when asked if there will be a final hostage and cease-fire deal proposed this week.

Asked what he wants Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to do, Biden replied, “We’re in the middle of negotiations.”

“We’re still in negotiations. Not with him [Netanyahu], with my colleagues from Qatar and from Egypt,” Biden said.

Earlier on Monday, Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris met with the U.S. hostage deal negotiating team in the Situation Room.

National security adviser Jake Sullivan spoke on the phone Monday morning with Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer and Qatari Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, a U.S. official said. They discussed efforts to conclude a deal for the release of the hostages and for a cease-fire in Gaza, the official said.

-ABC News’ Karen Travers, Elizabeth Schulze and Lauren Peller

Protesters break through barriers near Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s residence

Protesters broke through barriers near Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s residence in Jerusalem on Monday as they demanded progress on a deal to return the hostages in Gaza.

Monday marks the second day of large protests across Israel after six murdered hostages were recovered in Gaza this weekend.

Israeli defense minister ‘deeply disheartened’ by UK decision to suspend some arms exports to Israel

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said in a statement he was “deeply disheartened” to learn of the United Kingdom’s new restrictions on some arms exports to Israel.

“This comes at a time when we fight a war on 7 different fronts — a war that was launched by a savage terrorist organization, unprovoked,” Gallant said. “At a time when we mourn 6 hostages who were executed in cold blood by Hamas inside tunnels in Gaza. At a time when we fight to bring 101 hostages home.”

U.K. Foreign Secretary David Lammy told Parliament on Monday about 30 of 350 export licenses are suspended because “there does exist a clear risk that they might be used to commit or facilitate a serious violation of international humanitarian law.”

-ABC News’ Jordana Miller

29 Palestinians killed in West Bank since IDF operation began

Twenty-nine Palestinians have been killed and 121 have been injured in the West Bank since the Israeli military’s operation began last Wednesday, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said in a statement Monday.

Eighteen people were killed in the Jenin governate of the West Bank, four in the Tubas governate, four in the Tulkarm governate and three in the Hebron governate, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said.

-ABC News’ Nasser Atta

Biden, Harris meet with US hostage deal negotiating team

President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris met with the U.S. hostage deal negotiating team in the Situation Room on Monday, according to the White House.

Biden and Harris received an update from the negotiation team on the “status of the bridging proposal outlined by the United States, Qatar and Egypt” and “they discussed next steps” in the release of the hostages, the White House said.

Biden also “expressed his devastation and outrage at the murder” of Israeli-American Hersh Goldberg-Polin and five other hostages and he “reaffirmed the importance of holding Hamas’s leaders accountable,” the White House said.

Officials participating in the briefing included Secretary of State Antony Blinken, CIA Director Bill Burns and national security adviser Jake Sullivan.

Netanyahu doubles down on Israeli troops remaining in Philadelphi corridor

In an Israeli cabinet meeting, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu doubled down on his stance that he will not agree to a cease-fire and hostage deal that includes the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Philadelphi corridor in Gaza, according to an Israeli official.

Israeli troops remaining in the Philadelphi corridor has been a key sticking point in the ongoing negotiations. Hamas wants a complete withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza.

“Everyone who says that it is possible to leave Philadelphi for 42 days, knows very well that it will be for 42 years. The world will not allow us to return,” Netanyahu said during Sunday night’s cabinet meeting, according to an Israeli official. “Everyone understands the importance of Philadelphi, and [Hamas leader Yahya] Sinwar understands it best. That is why he insists. All smuggling the weapons to Gaza were through Philadelphi. If we change the cabinet’s decision, it will be a terrorist award, you will not return the hostages.”

The Hostages Families Forum said in a statement that Netanyahu’s comments are “dangerous.” The families said Netanyahu’s statement means “there will be no deal, and the families will not get to see their loved ones return home.”

-ABC News’ Jordana Miller and Dana Savir

Israeli president apologizes to Hersh Goldberg-Polin and his parents for not keeping him safe

As Israeli President Isaac Herzog gave a eulogy at the funeral of Israeli-American hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin, he apologized to the slain 23-year-old.

“I apologize that the country you immigrated to at the age of 7, wrapped in the Israeli flag, could not keep you safe,” Herzog said Monday, two days after the Israeli-American’s body was recovered in Gaza, along with five others.

The president also asked for forgiveness from Goldberg-Polin’s parents, Rachel Goldberg-Polin and Jon Polin, for not bringing their son home alive.

He said he learned of “a mother’s and father’s limitless love” from Rachel Goldberg-Polin and Jon Polin.

“Jon and Rachel, against the senseless hatred, and unthinkable brutality of Hamas terror, pure barbaric evil, you have taught the world about human dignity,” Herzog said. “As a human being, as a father, and as the President of the State of Israel, I want to say how sorry I am. How sorry I am that we didn’t protect Hersh on that dark day. How sorry I am that we failed to bring him home.”

Though he said Israel will “continue fighting relentlessly against” Hamas, Herzog stressed that the remaining 101 hostages must be released.

“The time to act is now: Bring them home,” Herzog said.

“Decision-makers must do everything possible, with determination and courage, to save those who can still be saved,” he said. “This is not a political goal, and it must not become a political dispute. It is a supreme moral, Jewish, and human duty of the State of Israel to its citizens.”

-ABC News’ Becky Perlow

Biden says Netanyahu is not doing enough, says ‘we are very close’ to presenting final deal

When asked by reporters if Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is doing enough on the hostage deal, President Joe Biden on Monday replied, “No.”

Asked about presenting a final hostage deal this week, Biden said, “We are very close to that.”

“Hope springs eternal,” Biden said, when asked what makes this final deal different, but he declined to provide details.

Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris are meeting with the U.S. hostage negotiation team Monday morning.

-ABC News’ Lauren Peller

‘We failed you,’ dad of slain hostage says

Hersh Goldberg-Polin was curious, self-assured and a deep, independent thinker, his dad, Jon Polin, said at his funeral on Monday.

The 23-year-old, who was found dead in Gaza this weekend, was “always seeking to understand the other, and always with dignity and respect,” Polin said.

“Hersh, we failed you. We all failed you,” Polin said with a “332” on his shirt, marking how many days his son was held hostage. “You would not have failed you. You would’ve pushed harder for justice … to bridge differences. … What you would be pushing for now is to ensure your death … [and the others’ deaths are] not in vain.”

“Maybe, just maybe, your death … is the fuel that will bring home the remaining 101 hostages,” Polin said.

“You have become a global symbol of bringing improvement to our world,” he said.

“The 23 years of life that we had with you were a blessing. We now will work to make your legacy a similar blessing,” he said.

Funeral underway for slain American hostage

A funeral procession is underway in Jerusalem for slain Israeli-American hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin. The 23-year-old was one of six murdered hostages recovered this weekend.

The Israeli Ministry of Health said the six hostages were killed “in a number of short-range shots” between Thursday and Friday morning.

The funeral comes one day after thousands of people took to the streets of Tel Aviv to protest the deaths of the six hostages.

2 hours and 31 minutes ago
Tel Aviv braces for fresh protests

More than 1,000 people have gathered in the northern Israeli city of Tel Aviv for continued anti-government protests, demanding that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu conclude a cease-fire and hostage-release deal with Hamas.

Other marches are taking place elsewhere in Israel. A general strike — called by Histadrut, Israel’s largest trade union — also began on Monday morning in protest of the government’s failure to free those still held hostage inside Gaza.

Police reported violent clashes with anti-government protesters in Tel Aviv on Sunday night, saying officers had arrested 29 people.

The current wave of demonstrations was sparked by the recovery of the bodies of six of Hamas’ hostages from a tunnel in the southern Gaza Strip on Saturday.

-ABC News’ Joe Simonetti and David Brennan

3 hours and 57 minutes ago
Israel Police accuses Tel Aviv marchers of ‘brutal’ vandalism, violence

The Israel Police has condemned what it called “brutal vandalism” during a night of anti-government demonstrations in Tel Aviv, sparked by the deaths in captivity of six of Hamas’ Gaza hostages.

In a statement, the Police Spokesperson’s Unit said officers arrested 29 suspects for a range of offenses including disorderly conduct, assaulting officers and vandalism.

The violence followed a planned protest at the Kaplan Junction in Tel Aviv, the statement said, after which “hundreds of protesters” left the approved demonstration area and moved to the Ayalon Highway, “with the intent to disrupt traffic and public order.”

Some marchers “violently pushed against barricades and officers, leading to a confrontation during which a policewoman was injured and lost consciousness,” the statement said. The officer was evacuated for medical treatment.

As officers attempted to clear the area, some protesters “breached security perimeters, blocked the Ayalon Highway, and set fires, while firing fireworks that nearly hit officers,” police said.

“The Israel Police strongly condemns the acts of vandalism and violence directed at officers,” the statement read. “We will pursue legal action against those responsible to the fullest extent of the law.”

The protesters were demanding that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government agree to a cease-fire and hostage-release deal with Hamas.

A general strike called by Israel’s largest trade union — Histadrut — began on Monday morning in a bid to pressure the government into reaching an accord with the militant group.

-ABC News’ Jordana Miller and David Brennan

8:12 PM EDT
Harris calls parents of slain Oct. 7 hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin

Vice President Kamala Harris and second gentleman Doug Emhoff spoke with the parents of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, an American-Israeli hostage who was found dead in Gaza on Saturday along with five other Oct. 7 hostages, according to the Israel Defense Forces.

The vice president and her husband called parents Rachel Goldberg and Jon Polin on Sunday to “express our condolences following the brutal murder of their son by Hamas terrorists,” Harris said in a statement on X.

“My heart breaks for their pain and anguish,” Harris continued.

“I told them: As they mourn this terrible loss, they are not alone. Our nation mourns with them,” Harris said.

4:59 PM EDT
Protest erupts in Tel Aviv as demonstrators demand cease-fire deal

Protesters took to the streets of Tel Aviv Sunday night, demanding a cease-fire agreement and the release of the remaining hostages being held by Hamas terrorists.

The demonstration came a day after Israel Defense Forces recovered the bodies of six hostages in tunnels under the city of Rafah in the Gaza Strip.

Protesters were seen waving Israeli flags as they demanded a cease-fire agreement, chanting “Deal. Now.”

-ABC News’ Victoria Beaule

3:25 PM EDT
6 killed in IDF strike on Gaza school, says Gaza Civil Defense

At least six people were killed on Sunday when Israel Defense Forces conducted an airstrike on a school in Gaza City, according to Gaza Civil Defense.

The IDF said in a statement that the strike was aimed at Hamas terrorists they allege were operating a command-and-control center inside the Safad school to plan and carry out terrorist attacks against the IDF and Israel.

“Prior to the strike, numerous steps were taken to mitigate the risk of harming civilians, including the use of precise munitions, aerial surveillance, and additional intelligence,” the IDF said in a statement.

The Gaza Civil Defense confirmed the Safad school was hit in the IDF strike, but said the school houses displaced people from the Al-Zeitoun area east of Gaza City.

-ABC News’ Victoria Beaulé

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(LONDON) — A Russian chess player has been suspended from participating in all competitions after being accused of trying to poison her opponent’s pieces, officials have announced.

Amina Abakarova is now under investigation by the Russian Chess Federation regarding her alleged plot against a rival during the Dagestan Republic Championship in Makhachkala; the capital of Russia’s Dagestan republic.

Andrey Filatov, the president of the Russian Chess Federation, said the organization is temporarily suspending Abakarova — who is from Dagestan — from all of its competitions until law enforcement agencies conclude their probe. Punishment could include a lifetime disqualification, Filatov said. Abakarova may even face criminal charges.

Dagestan Sports Minister Sazhid Sazhidov said in a statement that Abakarova had “treated the table at which she was sitting with an unknown substance, which later turned out to be mercury compounds.” Her opponent was fellow Dagestani Umaiganat Osmanov, Sazhidov said.

Sazhidov added that he was “perplexed by what happened, and the motives that guided such an experienced athlete as Amina Abakarova are also incomprehensible to me.”

“The actions she committed could have led to the saddest outcome; they threatened the lives of everyone who was in the chess house, including herself. Now she will have to answer for what she did before the law,” he said.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.