Where things stand on the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas

Secretary of State Antony Blinken was visiting Egypt and Israel on Monday to try to advance efforts to broker a ceasefire in the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip. He was due to meet Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in Cairo before traveling to Israel to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

Negotiators from the United States, Qatar and Egypt worked to craft an agreement between Israel and Hamas that would end the war that killed tens of thousands of people of people, mainly Palestinians in Gaza. So far, no agreement has been reached.

A member of Hamas' political wing told CBS News on Monday that the group was still reviewing the latest ceasefire proposal, announced by President Biden in late May. Blinken's visit to the region follows a raid by Israeli forces that saw them save four hostages from central Gaza. Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry says more than 200 Palestinians were killed in the operation, a figure the Israeli military disputes.

Here is how the news regarding the ceasefire negotiations is developing:

Biden announces Israeli proposal to end war in Gaza

Late last month, President Biden announced what he calls an Israeli proposal to end the war.

He said the plan included three phases, the first of which would include a cessation of hostilities. He said Israeli forces would withdraw from Gaza's population centers, some Israeli hostages and hundreds of Palestinian prisoners would be exchanged, Palestinian civilians would return to parts of Gaza, including the north, and 600 trucks of Humanitarian aid would be provided every day. .

In the second phase, Israel and Hamas would negotiate a permanent end to the war, and “the ceasefire will continue as long as negotiations continue,” Mr. Biden said. Israel would withdraw from Gaza and remaining hostages would be released.

The third phase would see the bodies of the slain hostages returned to Israel and the reconstruction of Gaza.

Mr. Biden said the plan was passed to Hamas by Qatar.

“I know there are those in Israel who will not agree with this plan and who will call for the war to continue indefinitely. Some are even part of the government coalition. They have been clear: they want to occupy Gaza .They want to keep Gaza.” the fighting has been going on for years and the hostages are not a priority for them. Well, I urged Israeli leaders to support this deal, regardless of pressure,” Mr. Biden said.

“As someone who has a lifelong commitment to Israel, as the only American president to visit Israel during wartime, as someone who just sent American forces to directly defend Israel when it was attacked by Iran, I ask you to step back, think about what will happen if this moment is lost,” Mr. Biden said. “We can’t lose this moment.”

Israeli leaders appear to show hesitant support for Biden's statements

After Mr. Biden's announcement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said it supported the plan, according to the Reuters news agency. However, Israeli media quickly reported that Netanyahu had said there were discrepancies between what Mr. Biden had outlined and Israel's position.

“The proposal presented by Biden is incomplete,” Netanyahu told Israeli lawmakers during a closed-door meeting of the Israeli parliament's foreign affairs and defense committee, according to the Times of Israel newspaper.

Netanyahu told his country's lawmakers that Israel would not end the war in Gaza until it achieved its three main goals: destroying Hamas's military and civilian governance capabilities, securing the release of all hostages and ensure that there is no ongoing threat to Israel from Gaza. Gaza, the Times of Israel reported.

Far-right and ultranationalist members of Netanyahu's cabinet, Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, accused Netanyahu of trying to “whitewash” a deal with Hamas and threatened to withdraw from the coalition government with him, which would effectively end Netanyahu's long tenure. mandate at the head of Israel.

“The dangerous proposal that President Biden spoke about was made by the war cabinet without authority and against the law, and it is not binding on the Israeli government,” Smotrich said.

Hamas says written Israeli proposal submitted to it is different from 'what Biden said'

Last Thursday, Hamas issued a statement saying that, given Mr. Biden's statement and statements by Israeli officials, “the enemy's position is unclear.”

Hamas said the written proposal it received “lacks the positive foundations mentioned in Biden's statements, and there is a difference between what is in the document and what Biden said, which caused much confusion and controversy, over whether what Biden was talking about was his personal interpretation of the document or oral agreements with Israeli or other parties.

Hamas said the written proposal it received did not guarantee one of its key conditions – a permanent ceasefire – nor did it link the three stages of the plan.

“On the contrary, he destroyed the bridges that transferred the agreement from one stage to another in order to break the unity of the agreement with all its stages and reduce it to a stage in which aggression is temporarily stops and its [Israel’s] “The armed forces remain on the territory of the Gaza Strip, and the occupation obtains in exchange the part of the prisoners it cares about, then resumes the war of annihilation against our people,” the statement said.

Hamas said it was determined “to take a positive stance towards Biden's statements” and “that Biden must ensure that the occupation government accepts them and that they are reflected in the text of the the agreement”.

US calls for UN vote

On Sunday, the United States said it had requested a vote by the United Nations Security Council on a draft resolution supporting the ceasefire proposal currently on the table.

“As we have repeatedly stressed, the implementation of this agreement would allow for an immediate ceasefire, the release of hostages, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from populated areas in its first phase, an immediate increase in humanitarian aid and the restoration of basic services, “The return of Palestinian civilians to northern Gaza, accompanied by a road map to end the crisis and a multi-year reconstruction plan supported by the international community” , declared Sunday Nate Evans, spokesperson for the American delegation to the UN, in a press release.

“Israel has accepted this proposal and the Security Council has the opportunity to speak with one voice and call on Hamas to do the same,” he said.

The resolution presents the ceasefire proposal in more detail than previous draft resolutions, in response to requests from several member states, the AFP news agency reported.

AFP said the current ceasefire proposal, as outlined in the draft resolution, which CBS News cannot independently verify, calls for a first phase that would include a “ceasefire -immediate, total and complete fire”, which would last six months. weeks, then extended as negotiators seek to permanently end the war.

This phase would also include the release of hostages taken by Hamas, the “exchange of Palestinian prisoners” and the “withdrawal of Israeli forces from populated areas of Gaza”, as well as large-scale distribution of humanitarian aid to Palestinian civilians. , according to AFP.

AFP, citing diplomatic sources, said the Security Council vote was scheduled for Monday.