U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken says that Israel has accepted a proposal to bridge differences holding up a cease-fire and hostage release in Gaza. He called on Hamas to do the same.
Blinken on Tuesday was on his ninth urgent mission to the Middle East since the war in Gaza began more than 10 months ago. He did not say whether the “bridging proposal” addressed concerns cited by Hamas.
Even if the militant group accepts the proposal, negotiators will spend the coming days working on “clear understandings on implementing the agreement,” Blinken said. He said there are still “complex issues” requiring “hard decisions by the leaders,” without offering specifics.
Blinken is traveling to Egypt and Qatar on Tuesday for further negotiations after meetings in Israel on Monday.
His visit came days after mediators, including the United States, expressed renewed optimism that a deal was close. His trip also came amid fears the conflict could widen into a deeper regional war following the killings of top militant commanders in Lebanon that Iran blamed on Israel.
Here’s the latest:
JERUSALEM — The bodies of two hostages were returned from the Gaza Strip, the communal farm they lived on announced Tuesday.
Kibbutz Nirim said that the bodies of Yagev Buchshtav and Nadav Popplewell had been returned to Israel from the Gaza Strip overnight. The kibbutz did not provide additional information and the Israeli military did not immediately confirm the information.
Israeli media reported that the two men — along with Avraham Munder, whose death his kibbutz announced Tuesday — were part of a larger military hostage extraction operation overnight.
Popplewell was declared dead by the Israeli military in June. Hamas said in May that Popplewell had died after being wounded in an Israeli airstrike. Israel’s military announced Buchshtav’s death in July.
The men were taken hostage by militants who stormed the border on Oct. 7, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking roughly 250 hostages. About 110 hostages kidnapped that day remain in the strip. About a third of them are believed to be dead.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive on Gaza has killed over 40,000 Palestinians, according to the territory’s Health Ministry.
JERUSALEM — Another male hostage has died in Hamas captivity, his communal farming village announced Tuesday.
Kibbutz Nir Oz said that Avraham Munder had been killed while held hostage in Gaza “after enduring months of physical and mental torture.” It was not clear from the statement whether his body had been recovered. Israel’s military did not immediately confirm the information.
Of some 110 hostages remaining in Gaza who were captured in Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, around 40 are believed to be dead, their bodies held in Gaza.
The kibbutz remembered Munder for his “clear voice, warm smile, and boundless love for his family and the kibbutz.”
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