Middle East updates: Video shows hostages alive in Gaza

World Central Kitchen announced it would resume operations in Gaza on Monday, almost a month after seven of its aid workers were killed in an Israeli airstrike in the enclave.

The US-based charity group, founded by celebrity chef Jose Andres, suspended operations in Gaza for four weeks after the workers were killed on April 1.

The non-profit group said it had distributed more than 43 million meals in Gaza since the war began in Gaza in October.

The charity said it had 276 trucks with the equivalent of almost 8 million meals ready to enter into Gaza through the Rafah border crossing. It will also send trucks into Gaza from Jordan.

"The humanitarian situation in Gaza remains dire," said Erin Gore, the CEO at World Central Kitchen. "We are restarting our operation with the same energy, dignity, and focus on feeding as many people as possible," she said.

White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said Israel had agreed to hear Washington's position before launching a full-scale ground offensive on Gaza's Rafah.

"They've assured us that they won't go into Rafah until we've had a chance to really share our perspectives and our concerns with them," Kirby said in an interview with broadcaster ABC.

Media reports suggest that Israel's military is preparing to evacuate Palestinian civilians from Rafah and launch an assault on Hamas there. The US has said it would not support Israel's plan without a credible humanitarian strategy. 

At the same time, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu is facing pressure from the far-right, with hardline Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich threatening to bring down the government, likely by withdrawing his party from the ruling coalition, if the Rafah operation is called off. 

In a video posted on social media, Smotrich said Netanyahu's government would "no longer have a right to exist" if the invasion plans were abandoned, insisting that it was essential in order to "destroy" Hamas. 

A delegation of the Palestinian militant group Hamas is expected in the Egyptian capital Cairo on Monday, to discuss a truce proposal that could see a halt in the fighting in the devastated Gaza Strip.

A senior Hamas official told the French AFP news agency on Sunday that the delegation would deliver Hamas' response to Israel's latest counter-proposal for a cease-fire.

US news website Axios said that Israel's latest proposal includes an openness to discuss the "restoration of sustainable calm" in Gaza after hostages are released, citing two Israeli officials. The website said this was the first time Israel has hinted at a willingness to discuss an end to the war.

"Hamas is open to discussing the new proposal positively," another Hamas source close to the negotiations told AFP.

The source added that the group is "keen to reach an agreement that guarantees a permanent cease-fire, the free return of displaced people, an acceptable deal for [prisoner] exchange and ensuring an end to the [Gaza] siege".

On Saturday, Israel's foreign minister said that the planned Rafah offensive could be suspended if a deal to release the Israeli hostages is reached. 

The planned offensive on the southern city of Gaza, where some 1.4 million Palestinians are seeking refuge from the fighting, has been widely criticized internationally.

The death toll from the Israeli war on the Palestinian militant group Hamas in the Gaza Strip has killed 34,454 Palestinians so far, according to Gaza's health authorities.

The Health Ministry counted 77,575 injuries since October 7 last year, when Hamas led an attack on southern Israel, which Israel says left some 1,200 killed.

The Hamas-run Health Ministry said on Sunday that it counted 66 deaths and 138 injuries in the past 24 hours.

Hamas is designated as a terrorist organization in Israel, the United States, Israel, Germany and other countries. 

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has said only the United States would be able to stop Israel from attacking Rafah, the city in the southern Gaza Strip where some 1.4 million Palestinians are seeking refuge from the ongoing fighting between Israel and Hamas.

Speaking at a World Economic Forum meeting in the Saudi capital of Riyadh on Sunday, Abbas said an Israeli ground offensive in Rafah would be "the biggest disaster in the history of the Palestinian people."

He called for an end to the fighting and for more aid to make its way to the devastated Gaza Strip.

The president of the Palestinian Authority said he would refuse to accept the displacement of Palestinians in Gaza or the West Bank and expressed worry that "Israel will try to push Palestinians out of the West Bank after it's done with Gaza."

French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne is in Lebanon on Sunday in an attempt to prevent Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah from becoming embroiled in an all-out conflict.

Hezbollah and Israel have been exchanging attacks over the border since Israel began its offensive against Hamas last October in response to a deadly raid by the Islamist militant group on Israel that killed some 1,200 Israelis.

Sejourne proposed earlier this year that the elite unit of Hezbollah withdraw 10 kilometers (6 miles) from the Israeli border, in exchange for Israel ceasing its strikes on the group in southern Lebanon.

"I will pass messages and make proposals to the authorities here to stabilize this zone and avoid a war," Sejourne said after visiting peacekeeping troops in the country.

"The objective is to prevent a regional conflagration and avoid that the situation deteriorates even more on the border between Israel and Lebanon," French Foreign Ministry deputy spokesperson Christophe Lemoine said at a news conference ahead of Sejourne's trip.

From 1922 to 1944, France was the administrative power in Lebanon following the partitioning of the Ottoman Empire and has maintained largely friendly relations with the country since that period. It has 700 troops based in the south of the country as part of the 10,000-strong United Nations peacekeeping force there.
 

A video showing two Israeli men held hostage in Gaza since Hamas' October 7 raid on southern Israel has been released by the armed wing of the Islamist group.

The two men in the video, who are shown urging Israeli authorities to strike a deal on the return of hostages, were identified by the campaign group the Hostages and Missing Families Forum as Keith Siegel, 64, and Omri Miran, 47.

The video, which was released on Saturday, came just three days after Hamas issued another showing 24-year-old hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin alive. Both Siegel and Goldberg-Polin also have US citizenship.

In the video, Siegel and Miran both speak of being in danger from bombs and urge continued protests in Israel, calling on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to agree to a hostage deal.

"It's time to reach a deal that will get us out of here safe and healthy ... Keep protesting, so that there will be a deal now," Miran said.

It remains unclear under what circumstances the video was recorded and whether the men spoke under duress. Israel has said Hamas uses these videos to psychologically terrorize the hostages' families. The EU, Israel, the United States and several other countries classify Hamas as a terrorist organization. 

The video was made public shortly after a senior Hamas member said the group was reviewing Israel's latest cease-fire proposal.

A special meeting of the World Economic Forum that gets underway in Saudi Arabia on Sunday is expected to focus on the Israel-Hamas war and current tensions across the Middle East.

The guest list for the meeting in Riyadh includes US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Palestinian leaders. There will be no Israeli participation at the summit.

"The world is today walking a tightrope right now, trying to balance security and prosperity," Saudi Planning Minister Faisal al-Ibrahim told a press conference on Saturday.

"We meet at a moment when one misjudgment or one miscalculation or one miscommunication will further exacerbate our challenges," al-Ibrahim said.

Saudi Arabia remains in talks about a deal under which it would recognize Israel for the first time. Still, analysts have said Israel's offensive against Hamas has made this more difficult.

Israel launched its offensive in Gaza after Hamas carried out a deadly raid in southern Israel on October 7, in which some 1,200 people died, mostly Israeli civilians.

The conflict has since drawn in a number of other actors, including Lebanon's Hezbollah and Yemen's Houthis, who have carried out acts of aggression against Israel and what they call Israel-linked targets in support of the Palestinians in Gaza. 

Crowds of protesters gathered in Tel Aviv on Saturday, calling for an immediate deal between Israel and the militant Islamist group Hamas for the release of Israeli hostages held in Gaza.

Demonstrators chanted "A deal now" and called for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government to resign.

The protest is the latest in a series of such demonstrations in Israel in support of the hostages, who have now been in captivity for 205 days.

Some 250 Israelis were taken hostage by Hamas during a deadly raid on October 7. Some have already been returned to Israel as part of an exchange in November for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel. Israel estimates that about 130 hostages are still being held by Hamas in Gaza, including 34 the military says are dead.

tj/sms (AP, Reuters, AFP, DPA)