News, hostage release and more

Smoke rises during an Israeli raid on and around Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City on Wednesday, March 20. (Photo source: Daoud Abu Al-Kass/Reuters)

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday that negotiations to reach a ceasefire linked to the release of hostages held by Hamas are “close” to reaching an agreement.

We have worked hard with Qatar, Egypt and Israel to put a strong proposal on the table. We did it; Hamas will not accept this. They came back with other requests, other demands. Blinken said that negotiators are working on that now.

Israel's response to Hamas's latest counterproposal was “generally negative” and did not respond to Hamas' demands, according to Hamas spokesman Osama Hamdan.

The counter-proposal presented last week includes the release of between 700 and 1,000 Palestinian prisoners by Israeli hostages. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described Hamas' proposal as “unrealistic.”

Blinken, who is traveling through the Middle East, is scheduled to travel to Egypt today to meet Arab leaders and head to Israel on Friday.

Here are some other key developments:

Raid a hospitalThe Israeli incursion into Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City lasted three days. A Civil Defense spokesman in Gaza said that civilians in the hospital lack basic needs. The Israeli military said it killed 90 “terrorists” and arrested a senior Hamas official allegedly involved in the killing of three children in 2014. According to eyewitness accounts, Israeli forces shot people in the hospital and detained Palestinian journalists and health workers who were blindfolded. Stripping them of their underwear.

An Israeli court stops the government's plan– The Israeli Supreme Court temporarily halted a government plan to return a group of hospitalized Palestinian patients and children to Gaza following a CNN report. This decision comes after a petition by an Israeli non-profit organization, which decided to take action in the wake of the CNN report.
Rafah evacuation plan: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that his government will soon approve a plan to evacuate civilians from the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, where about 1.5 million people reside. But he indicated that the planned military attack on the city was not imminent.

Canada suspends arms exports to IsraelCanada “has not approved new permits for arms exports to Israel” since January 8, “and this will continue until we can ensure full compliance with our export regime.” CNN previously reported that Canada suspended exports of technology and non-lethal military goods to Israel in January due to the risk that the goods could be used in connection with human rights violations.

Netanyahu addresses Republicans in the Senate: The Israeli prime minister delivered a political lunch speech to Senate Republicans on Wednesday for 15 minutes via video and then answered questions for about 45 minutes, according to Sen. John Kennedy. Kennedy said that Netanyahu strongly criticized Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer's statements, which called for elections to form a new government in Israel.