Here’s a look at what Israel and Hamas have said about truce talks in recent weeks:

April 7: Talks in Cairo 

• Hamas and Israel send negotiators to Cairo for mediated talks

April 8: ‘No progress’ 

• Egyptian security sources tell state-run Al Qahera News that some progress was made in Cairo and that both sides made concessions that would pave the way for a deal that – as proposed during previous talks – would be staggered over three stages with the release of the remaining Israeli captives and a long-term ceasefire addressed in the second stage.
• The sources say the concessions relate to the release of Israeli captives and Hamas’s demand for the return of displaced residents to northern Gaza. They say mediators suggested the return could be monitored by an Arab force in the presence of Israeli security deployments that would later be pulled back.
• But a Hamas official tells Reuters that no significant progress was made.

April 13: Hamas sticks by demands

• Hamas rejects the latest proposal.
• The group stands by its demands for a “permanent ceasefire, the withdrawal of the occupation army from the entire Gaza Strip, the return of the displaced to their areas and places of residence, intensification of the entry of relief and aid, and the start of reconstruction”.

April 25: Hamas ‘serious’ about captives deal

• Khalil al-Hayya, the deputy head of Hamas in Gaza, tells Al Jazeera Arabic that Hamas “is serious about releasing Israeli captives” if an agreement which includes a permanent ceasefire in Gaza is reached.
• Two Egyptian security sources tell Reuters that Egypt asked Israel for a follow-up meeting and it believes Israel was more open to allowing displaced Gaza Palestinians to return to the north. Reuters adds the ability of civilians to return to the north and the pull-back of Israeli forces were the sticking points in previous rounds of negotiations.

April 26: Egypt makes renewed push

• An unnamed official tells Reuters that an Egyptian delegation met Israeli officials, looking for a way to restart truce talks.
• The official says Israel had no new proposals but was willing to consider an Egyptian proposal that would entail a limited truce in which 33 female, elderly and sick captives would be released.

April 27: Hamas studies Israel’s response 

• Al-Hayya says Hamas has received an official response from Israel to its ceasefire proposal but does not provide details of what’s included. He says Hamas is studying the response before replying.
• Quoting two unnamed Israeli officials, US news site Axios says Israel’s proposal includes a willingness to discuss the “restoration of sustainable calm” in Gaza.
• Foreign Minister Israel Katz later tells local media that Israel “will suspend the operation” in Rafah if a deal is reached to release captives.

A Hamas official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the Reuters news agency that a delegation will visit Cairo on Monday for Gaza ceasefire talks. The official said the delegation will discuss a proposed ceasefire offered by mediators and Israel’s response.

On Saturday, senior Hamas official Khalil al-Hayya said the group was reviewing an Israeli proposal but gave no details. He added that the Israeli truce offer was in response to a Hamas proposal two weeks ago.

Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has urged Netanyahu not to back down from an assault on Rafah saying agreeing to Egypt’s ceasefire proposal would constitute a humiliating defeat to Hamas. Without eradicating the governing entity in Gaza, Smotrich said in a video statement addressed to Netanyahu: “A government headed by you will have no right to exist.”

Asked whether Smotrich – who is not a member of Netanyahu’s war cabinet – had details of any Egyptian proposal, his spokesman didn’t immediately comment.

The Israeli military’s chief of staff Herzi Halevi approved plans for the “continuation of war” in Gaza in a meeting with the head of the Southern Command Major-General Yaron Finkleman.

The military added in a statement on Telegram that all division and brigade commanders attended the meeting.

Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir says if a ceasefire deal is approved it will lead to the dissolution of the Benjamin Netanyahu-led government.

On X, Ben-Gvir wrote a “reminder” to a previous post he made in January, saying, “Reckless deal = dismantling of the government.”

His comments come after hardline Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich warned Netanyahu’s government will have “no right of existence” unless Israel invades Rafah where Hamas battalions are allegedly based.

Israeli war cabinet minister Benny Gantz says if the government rejects a deal to release captives in Gaza, it will “have no right to continue to exist”.

“Entering Rafah is important in the long struggle against Hamas. The return of our abductees, abandoned by the 7.10 government, is urgent and of far greater importance,” Gantz wrote on X.

“If a responsible outline is reached for the return of the abductees with the backing of the entire security system, which does not involve the end of the war, and the ministers who led the government on 7.10 prevent it – the government will not have the right to continue to exist and lead the campaign.”

Gantz’s comments contradict those of the far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who earlier warned that Netanyahu’s government would have “no right of existence” if it accepted a ceasefire deal and did not enter Rafah.

Agreement to the truce deal would represent the “death penalty for the hostages and immediate existential danger to the state of Israel”, said Smotrich.

Speaking to Israeli media, Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesperson Majed al-Ansari urged both Israel and Hamas to show “more commitment and more seriousness” in ceasefire negotiations.

In the interviews with the Haaretz daily and public broadcaster Kan, al-Ansari did not reveal details of the current state of the talks, other than to say they have “effectively stopped” with “both sides entrenched in their positions”.

“If there is a renewed sense of commitment on both sides, I’m sure we can reach a deal,” he said.

Gaza emergency officials have presented evidence for a civil defence investigation of mass grave killings, which they say were committed by Israeli forces at two hospitals in the Gaza Strip. Children were found in the graves, along with bodies that had their hands tied.

‘Insurmountable task’ for humanitarian groups in Gaza

At least two children in Gaza have died due to the heat: UNRWA

As temperature rises, life conditions in Gaza worsen.

Displaced people have access to less than 1l of water per person per day for drinking, washing & bathing, against the 15l minimum according to @SpherePro Standards.

Children pay the highest toll: we need a #CeasefireNow. pic.twitter.com/F3JIRKYjzp

— UNRWA (@UNRWA) April 28, 2024

World Central Kitchen to resume operations in Gaza

Rights group says Washington must act on evidence Israel is blocking US aid to Gaza

Israel may be violating international law in Gaza: US officials in internal memo

_{People gather near bodies lined up for identification after they were unearthed from a mass grave found in the Nasser Medical Complex in the southern Gaza Strip on April 25}

US Senator questions if State Dep properly assessing Israeli use of weapons

Not listed yet, the 14 billion extra military aid just passed to assist in the current genocide.

The war in Gaza is expected to get top billing at a Saudi Arabian-hosted special meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF), which begins today.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Palestinian leaders and high-ranking officials from other countries trying to broker a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas are on the guest list for the summit in Riyadh, the capital of the world’s biggest crude oil exporter.

“The world is today walking a tightrope… trying to balance security and prosperity,” Saudi Planning Minister Faisal al-Ibrahim told a news conference on Saturday previewing the event.

Borge Brende, the WEF president, also said on Saturday that there was “some new momentum now in the talks around the hostages, and also for… a possible way out of the impasse we are faced with in Gaza”.

However, there will be no Israeli participation at the summit and Brende noted that formal mediation involving Qatar and Egypt was unfolding elsewhere.

Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud chaired a meeting in Riyadh with representatives from six Arab countries to discuss the situation in Gaza, the Saudi Press Agency has reported.

The meeting was attended by Jordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman al-Safadi, Egypt’s top diplomat Sameh Shoukry, Palestinian Authority official Hussein al-Sheikh, UAE’s diplomatic adviser Anwar Gargash and Qatar’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Mohammed bin Abdulaziz al-Khulaifi.

The group stressed the need to end Israel’s war on Gaza and the importance of recognising the State of Palestine along the 1967 borders with occupied East Jerusalem as its capital.

They also rejected any attempt to displace Palestinians from their land and military operation in Rafah – the southernmost area of the enclave that shelters about 1.2 million people displaced by Israel’s near-seven-month war.

Saudi Arabia has called for regional “stability” as it warned of the effects of the ongoing war in Gaza on global economic sentiment at the start of a summit attended by regional and global leaders.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Palestinian leaders and high-ranking officials from other countries trying to broker a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas are on the guest list for the summit in the capital.

The Gaza war, along with conflicts in Ukraine and elsewhere, put “a lot of pressure” on the economic “mood”, Saudi Finance Minister Mohammed al-Jadaan said at one of the first panel discussions of the two-day World Economic Forum (WEF) special meeting.

“I think cool-headed countries and leaders and people need to prevail, and you need to make sure that you actually de-escalate,” al-Jadaan said. “The region needs stability.”

An Israeli ground invasion of Rafah would force most of the Palestinian population to flee Gaza, says Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

Abbas told a special meeting of the World Economic Forum in Riyadh that about 1.5 million Palestinians are sheltering in Rafah and only a “small strike” would force those people to flee.

“The biggest catastrophe in the Palestinian people’s history would then happen,” he said. “We call on the United States of America to ask Israel to not carry on the Rafah attack. America is the only country able to prevent Israel from committing this crime.”

Abbas reiterated he rejects the displacement of Palestinians into Jordan and Egypt, and said he’s concerned once Israel completes its operation in Gaza, it will attempt to force the Palestinian population out of the occupied West Bank and into Jordan.

Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler says the Palestinian issue is “very important” for Riyadh and “we need to ease the lives of the Palestinians”. The comments by Mohammed bin Salman come as Saudi Arabia reviews a possible “normalisation” deal with Israel in return for an independent Palestinian state.

While it is no surprise Saudi Arabia would link ties with Israel to a resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, “the price for normalisation, especially on the Palestinian front, has certainly gone up”, said Saudi analyst Aziz Alghashian.

“What can be said is there needs to be something more tangible than theoretical. In other words, more irreversible steps that are clear-cut, rather than just promises.”

The US State Department said Secretary Blinken will discuss “a pathway to an independent Palestinian state with security guarantees for Israel” during talks in Riyadh on Monday and Tuesday.

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah said: “The situation in Gaza obviously is a catastrophe by every measure – humanitarian but also a complete failing of the existing political system to deal with that crisis.”

During the first day of a Saudi-hosted World Economic Forum special meeting, he said it is in “everybody’s interest in the region, our interest, the interest of the Palestinians, the interest of the Israelis, in the interest of the global community of nations, that we find a pathway to resolve this issue once and for all”.

Only “a credible, irreversible path to a Palestinian state” will prevent the world from confronting “this same situation two, three, four years down the line”, he added.

Our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic are reporting renewed Israeli air raids on the towns of az-Zawayda and al-Mughraqa in the central Gaza Strip.

Palestinian death toll from war on Gaza now at 34,454: Health Ministry

Rafah attack: ‘Anywhere you shoot you’ll kill a bystander’

‘Completely disfigured’: Children severely wounded in Nuseirat camp

Israeli airstrike targets a residential building in Rafah

Israeli forces have launched pre-dawns raids across the occupied West Bank, triggering clashes in the village of Beit Sera, west of Ramallah, according to the Wafa news agency.

The soldiers fired stun grenades and tear gas during the confrontations, the agency reported.

Israeli forces also raided the towns of Illar, north of Tulkarem, and Hizma, northeast of Jerusalem. A 22-year-old Palestinian man was arrested in Hizma, Wafa reported.

Israeli army arrests at least seven in occupied West Bank

_{Israeli forces are seen detaining a young Palestinian in Bab al-Zawiya, Hebron, occupied West Bank on April 25}

Hundreds of Israeli settlers reportedly enter Al-Aqsa Mosque

This is a first

Israeli police arrest 5 settlers linked to West Bank violence

Archbishop of Canterbury denounces Israel over detention of Christian woman

Today we learned that an Israeli military court has placed Palestinian Christian young woman Layan Nasir, who was arrested last week, in administrative detention for four months (renewable). No charges have been presented. Layan is just one of thousands of Palestinians who are in… pic.twitter.com/rptFXQb93c

— Munther Isaac منذر اسحق (@MuntherIsaac) April 15, 2024

Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne is visiting Lebanon today to push proposals to prevent further escalation and a potential war between Israel and the Lebanese group Hezbollah amid the ongoing war in Gaza.

“The objective is to prevent a regional conflagration and avoid that the situation deteriorates even more on the border between Israel and Lebanon,” Foreign Ministry deputy spokesperson Christophe Lemoine said at a news conference.

France has historical ties with Lebanon, and earlier this year, Sejourne delivered an initiative proposing Hezbollah’s elite unit pull back 10km (6 miles) from the Israeli border and Israel to halt strikes in southern Lebanon.

France has 700 soldiers based in southern Lebanon as part of the 10,000-strong United Nations peacekeeping force.

French FM visits southern Lebanon amid fears of Israel-Hezbollah war

_{A house lies in ruins in the border area of Shebaa in southern Lebanon, following an Israeli attack on Saturday}

Israel hits Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon

French FM says there has been ‘a lot of progress’ in Lebanon talks

_{Captain Hector Alonso Garcia of the Spanish UNIFIL battalion, the UN peacekeeping force in south Lebanon, shows on a map the blue line, a UN-drawn boundary between Lebanon and Israel}

Hundreds of students in the US are being arrested, suspended, put on probation and, in rare cases, expelled from their universities for participating in pro-Palestinian demonstrations with many still waiting to hear the full consequences of their actions, The Associated Press reports.

Last week, more than 100 faculty members at Columbia University and its Barnard College staged a “Rally to Support Our Students” condemning the arrests and demanding suspensions be lifted.

Crackdowns continued at a handful of campuses on Saturday, including a lockdown at the University of Southern California and a heavy police presence. More than 200 people were arrested at a handful of schools including 80 late on Saturday at Washington University in St. Louis.

At issue is whether universities and law enforcement will clear the students of charges, or whether the suspensions and legal records will follow them into their adult lives.

White House calls for ‘peaceful’ university protests as hundreds are arrested

Students and children in Gaza thank pro-Palestinian protesters at US college campuses

https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/28/middleeast/gaza-students-thank-columbia-protests-intl-latam/index.html



Dozens of Palestinian students and children staged a display of solidarity at a demonstration in southern Gaza on Sunday to express gratitude for the support seen on US college campuses in recent weeks.

...

Takfeer Abu-Yousuf, a displaced student from Beit Hanoun in Northern Gaza, told CNN from the camp he felt it was necessary to thank the students in the US who “supported us with their humanity.”

“Those are thank you messages on our tents, those tents that don’t protect us from the heat or cold. The least we can do is thank them. We can’t write these thank you messages on the walls of our homes because we have no homes. They have been destroyed on top of our children, elders, and women,” he said.

Eighteen-year-old Rana Al-Taher pointed to the school in the camp, telling CNN that what should have been a place for learning and education has become a place for sheltering.

“That means that we have lost our education. We have lost our only hope in Gaza and we want it back. We’re here to ask for it back. It’s our right to have it back… that’s why we’re here,” she said.

....

First-year university student Bayan Al-Fiqhi told CNN she has not been able to attend her classes at her university in Cairo since the war in Gaza began and was very appreciative to students in the US for “staging their solidarity protest.”

“We hope they add pressure on Israel and the US to stop the bloodbath that is taking place in the Gaza Strip and to prevent the invasion of Rafah,” she added.

Twenty-one-year-old Nowar Diab told CNN she lamented the impact Israel’s bombardment of Gaza has had on her academic pursuits.

“I was supposed to be a graduate this year. I studied English and French literature at Al-Azhar university, but Al-Azhar university got bombarded… this war stood like a border between me and my dreams and the beginning of my career,” she said.

“Today I am standing here to tell the whole world that we, Gazan students, go through pain and we suffer every single day,” she added.

Israeli government has received indications from senior legal officials that the International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor is considering issuing arrest warrants for Israeli officials, including PM Netanyahu, according to a report by Israel’s Channel 12.

The ICC is currently investigating Israel’s actions in the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

In addition to Netanyahu, these investigations could lead to arrest warrants being issued for Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi.

The Israeli newspaper Maariv also reported that Netanyahu is “frightened and unusually stressed” by the possibility of an ICC arrest warrant. On Friday, Netanyahu posted on X that under his leadership, “Israel will never accept any attempt by the ICC to undermine its inherent right of self-defense”.

The ICC case is separate from several ongoing cases against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), including one brought by South Africa that alleges that Israel is committing the crime of genocide in its continuing war on Gaza.

The ICJ was created to resolve conflicts between states; the ICC prosecutes individuals for crimes.

‘Israel operates with full adherence to all laws of war’: Minister

_{Activists hold up a banner denouncing Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu at the International Criminal Court in The Hague}

Could Netanyahu also face arrest in Israel?