| | PM Netanyahu said President Biden's cease-fire proposal won't stop the war, but will lead to a temporary truce to release hostages held by Hamas. Egypt's foreign minister said Hamas views the deal positively, and is awaiting Israel's response. The IDF said it is conducting criminal investigations into 48 deaths of Gazans held in Israeli prisons during the war. Palestinian President Abbas said "Iran aims to sacrifice Palestinian blood" after Supreme Leader Khamenei said Hamas' October 7 attack came "at the right time."
Here's what you need to know 241 days into the war | | |
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| | | | What happened today | | |  | | | ■ HOSTAGES/CEASE-FIRE: PM Netanyahu met with far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir to discuss the plan proposed by President Biden for a cease-fire and hostage deal with Hamas, after Ben-Gvir announced that he would bring the government down if Israel accepts the agreement. Following the meeting, Netanyahu said that the Biden deal will not end the war, but will lead to a temporary cease-fire to release the hostages held by Hamas.
- Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich threatened to "replace the failed leadership" of Israel if the Biden proposal is adopted, adding that Israel's green light "was given by the war cabinet, without authority and in violation of the law, and it is not binding for the Israeli government and the State of Israel." He further threatened to "stand against you [Netanyahu] with all our strength and aggression if you choose surrender and defeat."
- The chairman of the ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism party, coalition minister Yitzhak Goldknopf, said his party would support any deal for the return of the hostages.
- U.S. President Joe Biden is scheduled to speak with the Emir of Qatar later on Monday to discuss efforts to finalize the three-stage cease-fire deal, two officials familiar with the matter told Haaretz.
- U.S. National Security Council Spokesperson John Kirby said mediators are "awaiting an official response" from Hamas, adding that "This gives them what they've been looking for, which is a cease-fire, and over time and through the phases the potential withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza." ■ Kirby also said President Biden made the proposal public "to try to energize the process and catalyze a different outcome… This wasn't about jamming [Israel's] prime minister or the war cabinet. This was about laying bare for the public to see how well and how faithfully and how assertively the Israelis came up with a new proposal."
- Egypt's Foreign Ministry said Hamas considered the proposal presented by Biden to be positive, and is now waiting for Israel's reply. Hamas sources later expressed pessimism about the progress of the negotiations following reports of disagreements in Israel about a complete cease-fire.
- Hamas told Qatari and Egyptian mediators that it demands U.S. guarantees that Israel will uphold all phases of the proposed agreement, emphasizing a halt to fighting, the Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar reported. According to the report, Egyptian mediators asked Hamas to also send representatives from Palestinian Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, in order to ensure that the deal is accepted by all major factions in Gaza.
- National Security Minister Ben-Gvir evaded meeting with relatives of hostages at the Knesset, claiming that he meets with hostages' families "all the time." Ilana Gritzewsky, who was released from Hamas captivity, yelled at the minister: "I'm good enough to sit in a tunnel but not good enough to meet with?"
- The IDF announced that remains of the body of Dolev Yahoud, who was considered to be held hostage by Hamas in Gaza, were found in Kibbutz Nir Oz. Later on Monday, Kibbutz Nirim announced that Nadav Popplewell, who was taken by Hamas on October 7, was killed in captivity.
"Netanyahu is quickly approaching the moment in which he will resort to his timeworn approach to ending political crises: dissolving the Knesset and going to elections. That's the only card left in his hand to achieve two pressing goals: advancing a cease-fire with Hamas – referred to in Israel as a 'hostage deal' – and halting the ruling that the High Court of Justice seems likely to issue, requiring the government to draft ultra-Orthodox men or at least pass a law that would require them to be drafted" – Aluf Benn
■ GAZA: Satellite images and an IDF probe indicated that the IDF failed to properly evaluate the potential lethal repercussions of last week's strike on two senior Hamas officials in the city of Rafah, leading to the deaths of at least 40 Palestinians.
- A senior official in UNRWA warned of a lack of access to clean drinking water in Gaza as Palestinians struggle with dehydration in the summer heat, the New York Times reported. The official, Scott Anderson, said the WHO warned of an increase in cases of hepatitis A and diarrhea in Gaza and said diseases such as cholera could become common if the situation does not improve.
- Humanitarian organizations in Gaza reported that aid shipments into southern Gaza are being displaced by commercial convoys amidst Israel's military push into Rafah, The Guardian reported.
- Despite UN data showing a two-thirds drop in aid deliveries, Israeli officials claim the overall number of trucks entering Gaza increased in May compared to April. This discrepancy is attributed to a rise in commercial shipments, following the lifting of a ban on food sales to Gaza from Israel and the West Bank. Aid agencies warn that prioritizing commercial trucks over humanitarian aid is critically undermining efforts to address the escalating hunger crisis in Gaza.
- According to the Hamas-controlled Health Ministry in Gaza, at least 36,479 Palestinians have been killed and 82,777 wounded since the start of the war.
■ ISRAEL: The IDF said it is conducting criminal investigations into 48 cases of deaths of Gaza residents held in Israeli prisons during the war, adding that since the beginning of the war, Israeli military police have opened 70 criminal investigations into soldiers' conduct, including cases that involve suspected looting, weapons theft, violence and insubordination.
- Israel's state comptroller criticized the government's handling of the northern town of Kiryat Shmona, targeted by Hezbollah rockets and drones since October 7, saying "they have left matters to the municipality, and government agencies are not present nor addressing the residents' needs."
■ LEBANON AND SYRIA: The IDF said 30 rockets were fired at northern Israel.
- Fires broke out in northern Israel after rocket attacks. An IDF facility was reportedly hit in a rocket barrage fired from Lebanon.
- The IDF said fighter jets struck a rocket launcher and buildings used by Hezbollah in several villages in southern Lebanon.
- The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights later reported that a strike in the Aleppo area attributed to Israel killed 16 members of an Iran-affiliated militia. Iran's SNN news agency reported that an Iranian military adviser was killed in the strike.
"Even if Israel agrees to the presence of PA officials who work under the supervision of EU staff, the question remains how to secure the facility not only against Hamas but also against local gangs who want to take control of the aid shipments" – Zvi Bar'el
■ WEST BANK: Undercover officers assassinated a wanted senior operative in an unnamed militant organization, at an event hall in the West Bank city of Nablus, Israel Police said, adding that the situation is ongoing. The Palestinian Red Crescent reported that six people were wounded in the exchanges of fire, including a 13-year-old boy.
■ U.S.–ISRAEL: U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken held separate phone calls Sunday with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and war cabinet minister Benny Gantz about a deal "to achieve a full and complete cease-fire in Gaza as part of a hostage deal that would secure the release of all hostages." Blinken told Gantz that he "commended Israel for the proposal and emphasized that Hamas should take the deal without delay." Blinken reiterated to Gallant that he "commended Israel's readiness to conclude a deal and affirmed that the onus is on Hamas to accept," the State Department said.
- A Defense Ministry statement said Gallant told Blinken that Israel's defense establishment is carrying out actions which will help establish a governing body other than Hamas in Gaza, and that Israel will not halt the fighting in the Strip until all hostages are returned to Israel and Hamas' rule in Gaza is over.
- House Republicans released their annual spending bill for the State Department and Foreign Operations – a text that will not make it into law but consistently serves as the most thorough encapsulation of GOP messaging on foreign policy. The bill prohibits the admission and resettlement of any Palestinian refugees from Gaza and calls for a permanent ban on U.S. funding for UNRWA.
- Former U.S. Vice President Mike Pence met with Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz in New York "for an update on efforts to bring all hostages home and defeat Hamas," according to a post on X by Pence.
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