The Times of Israel is liveblogging Monday’s events as they unfold.
Hamas leaders must be held accountable for ‘vicious’ execution of hostages, Austin tells Gallant
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke on the phone earlier today.
The pair discussed Israel’s recovery of the remains of six hostages in Gaza murdered by Hamas, including 23-year-old American citizen Hersh Goldberg-Polin.
Austin “passed along his deepest condolences to the families of all of the slain hostages and he expressed outrage at their vicious, illegal, and immoral execution at the hands of Hamas,” the US readout says.
Austin “affirmed that Hamas leaders must be held accountable for their crimes, and the pair reaffirmed their mutual commitment to swiftly reaching a ceasefire deal to secure the release of all of the hostages,” the Pentagon says.
“Austin also conveyed his condolences for three Israeli police officers killed in an apparent terrorist attack in the West Bank this morning and expressed his concern over rising tensions and increased terrorist activity there this week,” the US readout adds.
Next few days critical in push to free remaining hostages, Biden aide tells families of US captives
The families of the seven remaining American Gaza hostages held a virtual meeting earlier today with US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and White House Mideast czar Brett McGurk.
“Sullivan told the families that the next few days will be critical in the push to free the remaining 101 hostages,” the American hostage families say in a joint statement.
“The Biden-Harris Administration is heartbroken by this senseless and cruel act by Hamas, he said. Mr. Sullivan also echoed what President Biden said in his statement, that the administration will work around the clock for a deal to secure the release of the remaining hostages,” the statement continues.
The families told the top Biden aides “that all parties must unite on the demand that Prime Minister Netanyahu close the deal with Hamas and bring the hostages home.”
The call is held against the backdrop of the IDF’s recovery of the bodies of slain American hostage Hersh-Goldberg-Polin and five other captives.
Sullivan agreed to hold a follow-up meeting with the American families later this week.
Report: US to present final ‘take it or leave it’ deal offer, says hostages’ execution casts doubt on Hamas’s seriousness
The United States has been working with Egypt and Qatar to put together one final outline for a ceasefire and hostage deal between Israel and the Hamas terror group, the Washington Post reports, citing an unnamed senior official in US President Joe Biden’s administration.
The “take it or leave it” offer was in the works before Israel discovered the bodies of six young hostages over the weekend, and if rejected may spell the end of American mediation efforts, the report says.
“You can’t keep negotiating this. This process has to be called at some point,” the official is quoted as saying.
Referring to the discovery of the hostages’ bodies, the official adds: “Does it derail the deal? No. If anything, it should add additional urgency in this closing phase, which we were already in.” However, the official acknowledges that the list of hostages to be released and the Palestinian security prisoners to be freed in exchange now have to be painstakingly renegotiated.
The official says the US agrees with Israel’s findings that the hostages were executed by Hamas shortly before the bodies’ discovery. They say this “calls into question” the terror group’s seriousness in the negotiations.
“US officials are going to be burning up the phones over the next 48 hours to see if a deal can still be reached,” a second unnamed senior US official is quoted as saying.
Netanyahu said ‘worried’ about protests as firm estimates 280,000 rallied in Tel Aviv
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is “worried” about the mass anti-government protests sweeping the country, CNN cites an unnamed Israeli official as saying.
Although there are no official numbers from police, the Crowd Solutions firm estimates that some 280,000 people participated in this evening’s demonstration in central Tel Aviv, in what would be the largest rally in almost 18 months.
Organizers have estimated that 300,000 people gathered in Tel Aviv and an additional 200,000 took part in other protests across the country.