News, hostage release and more

Secretary of State Antony Blinken held a joint press conference with Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry in Cairo, Egypt on Thursday. (Credit: Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters)

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the “gaps are closing” between Israel and Hamas to achieve a temporary ceasefire in exchange for the release of the hostages, but acknowledged that “there are still real challenges.”

“As you know, we are working with Egypt, Qatar and Israel to put a strong proposal on the table,” Blinken said during a news conference in Cairo with Egypt’s foreign minister. Hamas responded by ” ,

Blinken said he still believes a deal is possible despite the “hard work to get there.”

Here are some other headlines you should know:

• Resolution vote: Nate Evans, spokesman for the US Mission to the UN, told CNN on Thursday that a US-proposed UN Security Council resolution on Gaza will be voted on this Friday morning.
• Al-Shifa Hospital Update: The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and the Israel Security Agency (ISA) announced on Thursday that their troops have arrested more than 600 people so far in an operation at Gaza’s al-Shifa hospital. More than 140 people were killed in the operation, the agencies said in a joint statement. The Israeli army on Monday launched an operation in Gaza’s largest hospital, al-Shifa, where thousands of people were taking shelter.
• Israel decides not to send patients back to Gaza: The Israeli government will not return nearly two dozen Palestinian patients admitted to hospitals in East Jerusalem and Tel Aviv to Gaza until Israel’s Supreme Court rules on the merits of the case, according to a letter submitted to the Supreme Court by the State Prosecutor’s Office. Does not give decision. Of Israel. A group of human rights groups filed a petition with Israel’s highest court following CNN’s report on some patients, including mothers and their 6-month-old babies.
• European Council summit in Brussels: When EU leaders met for a European Council summit in Brussels on Thursday, they declined to call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. Concluding the first day of the summit, European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen told reporters that leaders had reached consensus on the need for an “immediate humanitarian pause” in Gaza, but in a move she called for an immediate ceasefire. slap down. This will certainly disappoint leaders of member states such as Ireland and Spain, who have advocated an immediate ceasefire ahead of the summit.