Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, Biden peace proposal

Israeli, Egyptian and US officials will discuss Rafah crossing reopening Sunday, sources say
From CNN’s Eugenia Yosef near Haifa and Benjamin Brown in London

Officials from Israel, Egypt and the United States will meet in Cairo on Sunday to discuss the reopening of the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip, an Egyptian official told CNN. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

An Israeli official also told CNN that a meeting on the issue had been arranged. The source did not provide further details.

Key background: The trilateral meeting comes nearly a month after Israel seized control of the Gazan side of the crossing and Egypt halted aid supplies through Rafah.

Israel and Egypt have blamed each other for the blockage. Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz called on Egypt to reopen the crossing. His Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry accused Katz of “distorting the facts,” saying that Israel’s offensive near the crossing – and the danger it poses to relief workers – was the reason Egypt is unable to bring aid into Gaza.

Rafah had previously been the central artery for aid to flow into Gaza – and, in November, for some injured Palestinians and foreign nationals to enter Egypt.

With Rafah now the epicenter of hostilities, aid is being transferred to the Gaza Strip via two other crossings on the Israel-Gaza border.

The state of negotiations: On Thursday, Egyptian state-affiliated Al-Qahera TV quoted a high-level informed source saying Egypt remains steadfast in its demand that the Israeli military make a complete withdrawal from the Rafah crossing as a prerequisite for its reopening.

The source denied Israeli media reports claiming that Egypt had agreed in principle to reopen the crossing to humanitarian aid following discussions with Israel and the US earlier on Thursday.

Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid has said that Israel’s government “cannot ignore President Biden’s significant speech,” after the US leader laid out what he said was an Israeli proposal to end the Gaza conflict.

“There is a deal on the table and it needs to be concluded,” Lapid, the former Israeli prime minister, wrote on X Saturday.
Lapid said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had a “safety net” from Lapid, and he would support Netanyahu in securing a hostage deal if far-right ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich left the government.

Ben-Gvir, Israel’s national security minister, had previously threatened to leave Netanyahu’s coalition if a ceasefire is reached before Israel achieves its declared war aims.

More context: Lapid’s comments came after Netanyahu on Saturday seemed to contradict Biden by saying that the conditions for Israel to end the war in Gaza “have not changed.”

Those conditions include “the destruction of Hamas military and governing capabilities, the freeing of all hostages and ensuring that Gaza no longer poses a threat to Israel,” a statement from the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office said.

It reiterated a stance taken by Netanyahu less than an hour after Biden first unveiled the proposal Friday, casting doubt on the degree of support he has for the plan as outlined by the US president.

Israel says conditions for ending Gaza war “have not changed,” seemingly contradicting Biden
From CNN’s Benjamin Brown and Alex Stambaugh

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Saturday that the conditions for ending the country’s war in Gaza “have not changed,” raising questions over a peace proposal laid out by US President Joe Biden, which he said Israel submitted.

During a speech Friday, Biden said Hamas had been degraded to a point where it can no longer carry out the type of attack that launched the current eight-month conflict in Gaza. Part of the agreement, he said, would see a truce and hostage exchange while Israel and Hamas negotiate a permanent end to the fighting.

But a statement from the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office on Saturday said Israel’s goals — including “the destruction of Hamas” — would need to be met before a permanent ceasefire can begin.

“Under the proposal, Israel will continue to insist these conditions are met before a permanent ceasefire is put in place. The notion that Israel will agree to a permanent ceasefire before these conditions are fulfilled is a non-starter,” the statement said.
Today’s statement largely reiterates comments made less than an hour after Biden detailed the peace proposal on Friday, with Netanyahu insisting the country would not end the war until Hamas is defeated and all hostages had been returned.

It is unclear exactly to what degree Israel supports the plan, as outlined by Biden. An earlier statement from the Prime Minister’s Office insisted the “exact outline” of the proposal allows Israel to “maintain” its goals in the conflict. cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps cps

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