News, hostage release and more

Smoke rises during an Israeli attack in and around Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City on Wednesday, March 20. (Credit: Dawood Abu Alqas/Reuters)

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday that talks are getting “close” to reaching an agreement to achieve a ceasefire linked to the release of hostages held by Hamas.

“We worked very hard with Qatar, Egypt and Israel to put a concrete proposal on the table. We did that; Hamas will not accept this. They returned with other requests, other demands. Negotiators are working on that right now,” Blinken said.

According to Hamas spokesman Osama Hamdan, Israel’s response to Hamas’ latest counterproposal was “generally negative” and did not respond to Hamas’ demands.

The counterproposal presented last week included the release of 700 to 1,000 Israeli hostages. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called Hamas’ proposal “unrealistic”.

Blinken, who has been traveling to the Middle East, will travel to Egypt today to meet with Arab leaders and to Israel this Friday.

Here are some other major developments:

raid on a hospital: Israel’s incursion into Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City has lasted for three days. A spokesman for Gaza Civil Defense said that the basic needs of civilians were being exhausted in the hospital. The Israeli military said it had killed 90 “terrorists” and detained a senior Hamas official allegedly involved in the killing of three children in 2014. According to witnesses, Israeli forces shot people in the hospital and detained journalists and Palestinian health workers, who were blindfolded. And took off their underwear.

Israeli court stopped the government’s plan– Israel’s Supreme Court temporarily halted a government plan to send a group of Palestinian hospital patients and infants back to Gaza after a CNN report. The decision comes after a petition by an Israeli non-profit organization, which decided to take action following the CNN report.
Rafah evacuation plan: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his government would soon approve a plan to evacuate civilians from the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where about 1.5 million people are taking refuge. But he suggested that a planned military offensive against the city was not imminent.

Canada suspends arms exports to Israel: Canada “has not approved new arms export permits to Israel” since January 8, “and will continue to do so until we ensure full compliance with our export regime.” CNN previously reported that Canada suspended exports of non-lethal military technology and goods to Israel in January because of the risk that the goods could be used in connection with human rights violations.

Netanyahu addressed Senate Republicans: Israel’s prime minister addressed the Senate Republican political luncheon on Wednesday via video for 15 minutes and then answered questions for about 45 minutes, according to Senator John Kennedy. Kennedy said Netanyahu sharply criticized Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s comments in which he called for elections to form a new government in Israel.