Qatari and U.S. officials are attempting to work out a deal between Israel and Hamas for the potential release of a dozen or more hostages held in Gaza, including Americans, in exchange for a short cease-fire, multiple media outlets reported.
Agence France-Presse, citing a source it said was close to Hamas, reported Wednesday that six American hostages were involved in the proposed deal.
“Talks revolve around the release of 12 hostages, half of them Americans, in exchange for a three-day humanitarian pause," the source told AFP, adding that the pause would "enable Hamas to release the hostages and to enable Egypt an extended (period of time) to deliver humanitarian aid."
Earlier Wednesday, AFP had said the talks "mediated by the Qataris in coordination with the U.S." involved 10-15 hostages but made no mention of nationalities.
On Tuesday, Axios reported that under a proposal being discussed between the U.S., Israel and Qatar, Hamas would release 10-15 hostages. A three-day pause would allow time to verify the identities of all the hostages and deliver a list of names of the people Hamas is holding. Axios cited a U.S. official it did not name.
Israeli officials say about 240 hostages are being held by Hamas and other militant groups. Israel has repeatedly refused requests from the U.S. and other nations for a humanitarian cease-fire until all the hostages are freed. The war has raged since Oct. 7, when Hamas militants stormed across the border and killed more than 1,400 Israelis, most of them civilians. Israel's assault on Gaza has killed more than 10,000 Palestinians, the Gaza Health Ministry says.
Israeli forces 'in depths' of Gaza City:Netanyahu open to 'little pauses' for aid
Developments:
∎ Yemen’s Houthi rebels said they shot down a U.S. drone flying in Yemeni airspace Wednesday. A senior U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to the Associated Press to discuss details not yet made public, confirmed the drone was downed and said the military is studying the incident.
∎ An Israeli fighter jet killed the head of weapons and industries for Hamas, the Israeli military said. Mohsen Abu Zina was "an expert in developing strategic weapons and rockets."
∎ Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto said his country is sending a hospital ship to be stationed off the coast of Gaza to provide medical treatment for Palestinians. The Vulcano has operating rooms and its staff includes medical and military personnel.
House censures Rashida Tlaib:Lawmaker defends comments over Israel
Israel says it has destroyed 130 Hamas tunnels
The Israeli military says it is "thwarting Hamas' terrorist infrastructure" by expanding its ground war in Gaza and destroying tunnel shafts, command centers and weapons warehouses. Since the beginning of the fighting, 130 tunnel shafts have been destroyed, the military says. The battle to control and destroy the underground maze, estimated at more than 300 miles, will be a key strategy for the Israeli military, military analysts and experts say.
Hamas leaders say Israel has exaggerated the scope of its infiltration. But Israel says specialized units are searching the tunnels for rocket assembly lines, stores of small arms and mortars and even Hamas leaders and the 240 hostages held by Hamas and other militant groups. Israeli troops claim to have cornered Yahya Sinwar, the most senior Hamas leader in Gaza, in his bunker.
"Combat engineers fighting in Gaza are destroying the enemy's weapons and are locating, exposing and detonating tunnel shafts," the military said in a statement. "This is how the IDF is destroying Hamas terrorist infrastructure."
About 500-600 Americans and relatives still aim to leave Gaza
More aid trucks went into the Gaza Strip through the Rafah crossing in the last 24 hours but there was a halt in the ability of U.S. citizens to leave Gaza, White House spokesman for national security John Kirby said Wednesday
“There will be some days when we’re more successful than others,” Kirby said of the administration’s efforts in helping U.S. citizens get out of the war zone. He estimated 500 to 600 Americans and their family members who want to leave still remain.
Kirby said there are various obstacles to departures that have to be worked every day, “almost all over again.”
− Maureen Groppe
‘No life in Gaza’: Evacuations triple from one day to next
The flow of Palestinians leaving the embattled north of Gaza for the somewhat safer south has increased markedly in recent days as the Israeli military extended the daily four-hour evacuation corridors and intensified its air and ground campaign. The U.N. said the number of fleeing Palestinians rose from 2,000 on Sunday to 5,000 the next day and 15,000 on Tuesday.
The agency said the majority of those making the trek south, often on foot, were children, the elderly and people with disabilities. Some reported having to cross Israeli checkpoints, witnessing arrests or being required to walk by Israeli tanks with raised hands while waving white flags.
Still, the persistent airstrikes and deteriorating living conditions, with the power cut off and diminishing water and food supplies, made it difficult for many to stay. The U.N. says about 1.5 million of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million have been displaced.
“There was shelling and bombardment overnight,” Abeer Akeila said after leaving her home in Gaza City. “We didn’t have food or drinking water … They struck the bakeries. There is no life in Gaza.”
US, G7 reject Israeli plan for post-war Gaza
Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday rejected Israel's plan to maintain "overall security responsibility" for the Gaza Strip after the war, saying the Palestinian Authority must ultimately take charge of the battered Palestinian enclave. Blinken, speaking after a meeting of G7 foreign ministers in Japan, said neither Israel nor Hamas can lead post-war Gaza. The "voices and aspirations" of Palestinian people must be at the center of governance, unified with the West Bank under the Palestinian Authority, he said.
Earlier this week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu indicated Israel plans to maintain a tight grip and have “overall security responsibility” in Gaza when the war winds down.
Blinken made the U.S. opposition to that notion clear: "No reoccupation of Gaza after the conflict ends," Blinken said. "No attempt to blockade or besiege Gaza. No reduction in the territory of Gaza."
House censures Palestinian American congresswoman
The House voted Tuesday night to censure the only Palestinian American in Congress, Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., over her remarks on the Israel-Hamas war. The move to censure Tlaib was approved by a vote of 234-188. All but four House Republicans voted in favor of the measure, which drew the support of almost two dozen House Democrats.
Among Tlaib’s comments that have caused the most controversy in Congress is her use of the phrase “from the river to the sea,” a slogan that implies creation of a Palestinian state from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea in much of what's currently Israeli land. Israel’s supporters say the phrase is antisemitic and a call to destroy the state of Israel. Tlaib defended the phrase as “an aspirational call for freedom, human rights and peaceful coexistence, not death, destruction or hate.” Read more here.
The White House opposes the use of the controversial phrase, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters. “It is divisive. It is hurtful. Many find it hurtful. Many find it antisemitic,” she said.
− Ken Tran
Doctors Without Borders lab tech among dozens killed in bombing
A lab technician working for Doctors Without Borders was killed in Gaza along with several family members, the agency announced Wednesday. Mohammed Al Ahel was at his home in the Al Shati refugee camp when the area was bombed Tuesday. His building collapsed, reportedly killing dozens of people, the agency said.
"We reiterate our call for an immediate cease-fire to prevent more deaths and allow the entry of desperately needed humanitarian supplies," the agency said in a statement. "The international community must take stronger action to stop the bloodshed in Gaza."
Contributing: Rick Jervis, USA TODAY; The Associated Press
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