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    • Israel-Hamas war: Netanyahu signals ceasefire deal could be shaping up as deaths top 39,000

    Destroyed buildings stand in the Gaza Strip during the sunset as seen from southern Israel, Wednesday, July 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa) Destroyed buildings stand in the Gaza Strip during the sunset as seen from southern Israel, Wednesday, July 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
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    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has signalled that a ceasefire deal that would free dozens of hostages from captivity in Gaza could be taking shape. Netanyahu is in Washington, where he was to meet with U.S. President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.

    The Israeli military ordered the evacuation of part of a crowded area in the Gaza Strip it had designated a humanitarian zone, while the Health Ministry in Gaza says over 39,000 Palestinians have now been killed in the nine-month war.

    Egypt, Qatar and the United States are pushing Israel and Hamas toward a phased deal that would stop the fighting and free the remaining hostages. Netanyahu's office has said a negotiating team will be sent to continue talks Thursday.

    In China, Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah signed a declaration on forming a unity government and ending a years-long rift. But previous declarations have failed, including a similar deal in 2011, casting doubt over whether the China-sponsored negotiations might actually lead to a resolution.

    Here's the latest:

    Israeli forces raid Palestinian city in West Bank

    JERUSALEM -- Israeli forces raided a Palestinian city in the occupied West Bank, the military said Tuesday, killing what it said were two militants. The Palestinian Health Ministry said a woman was killed.

    The military said a drone struck militants in the area of the northern West Bank city of Tulkarem overnight into Tuesday, killing Ashraf Nafa, who the military said was a local senior Hamas operative. It said another alleged militant, Mohammed Awad, was also killed in the raid, and said both had been behind attacks on Israeli soldiers. The Israeli military statement did not mention the woman killed.

    There was no immediate claim from Hamas or other militant groups surrounding the men's affiliations.

    For several years, the Israeli military has been carrying out near-nightly raids in the West Bank that intensified when the war in Gaza erupted. The Palestinian Health Ministry says more than 500 Palestinians have been killed in the ensuing violence, many of them in clashes with Israeli soldiers but others while throwing stones or protesting. People not involved in confrontations have also been killed.

    Palestinian attacks against Israelis have been on the rise in the territory.

    Top WHO official worried about polio

    GENEVA -- A top World Health Organization official in Palestinian areas said Tuesday he's "extremely worried" about polio and other outbreaks of communicable diseases in Gaza after traces of the virus turned up in sewage samples in the territory.

    Dr. Ayadil Saparbekov, team lead for health emergencies at WHO in the occupied Palestinian territory, said test results and a risk assessment were expected this week about how people and medical officials should respond to a possible outbreak.

    There have been no confirmed human cases of polio in Gaza, but six of seven sewage samples tested positive for vaccine-derived polio virus, he said. That means that one or more people who got a polio vaccine jab have shed the virus in the environment.

    "I am extremely worried about an outbreak happening in Gaza. And this is not only polio -- the different outbreaks of the communicable diseases that may happen," he told a United Nations briefing in Geneva by video, alluding to a hepatitis outbreak there in 2023.

    Saparbekov said lack of water, sanitation, and access to health care could lead to more people dying of communicable diseases than from injury-related conditions.

    Rolando Gomez, a United Nations spokesperson in Geneva, said Israel "as the occupying power" has a responsibility "to ensure assistance reaches those in need in Gaza" and to "create an enabling environment for the U.N. and our partners to operate."

    Israel has announced plans to vaccinate its soldiers operating in Gaza against polio.

    Palestinian factions sign declaration

    RAMALLAH, West Bank -- Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah signed a declaration in Beijing on ending a years-long rift, Chinese state broadcaster CCTV said Tuesday, taking a step toward potentially resolving the deep divide between the sides as the war in Gaza rages on.

    The declaration by the two heavyweights of Palestinian politics -- and other smaller Palestinian groups -- to form a unity government for the Palestinian territories is the result of the latest in a series of talks meant to unite the sides.

    But previous declarations have failed, including a similar deal in 2011, casting doubt over whether the China-sponsored negotiations might actually lead to a resolution. It also comes as Israel and Hamas are weighing an internationally backed ceasefire proposal that would wind down the nine-month war and free dozens of Israeli hostages held by Hamas.

    Still, the future of Gaza is undecided, with Israel vehemently opposed to any role by Hamas in governing Gaza. It has also rejected calls from the United States for the Fatah-dominated Palestinian Authority to run Gaza after the war ends. The lack of a post-war vision for running the Gaza Strip has complicated negotiations over a ceasefire.

    Since the current war broke out in Gaza almost 10 months ago, Hamas officials have said that the party does not want to return to ruling Gaza as it did before the conflict, and the group has called for formation of a government of technocrats to be agreed upon by the various Palestinian factions, which would prepare the way for elections for both Gaza and the West Bank, with the intention of forming a unified government.

    Israeli soldiers move near the Israeli-Gaza border, as seen from southern Israel, Monday, July 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

    Conditions for a ceasefire deal 'ripening'

    TEL AVIV, Israel -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has signalled that a ceasefire deal that would free dozens of hostages from captivity in Gaza could be taking shape.

    In a meeting late Monday in Washington with families of hostages, Netanyahu said the conditions to bring the captives back were "ripening," according to a statement from his office. He said that was happening because of the fierce military pressure Israel was putting on Hamas.

    He gave no further details on the deal's progress.

    For weeks, Israel and Hamas have been weighing a United States-backed ceasefire deal that would bring a halt to the nine-month war and free the roughly 120 hostages taken by Hamas during its Oct. 7 attack. About a third of the hostages are said to be dead, and Israel's military announced Monday that two more died in captivity.

    Netanyahu faces intense pressure from a broad swath of Israelis to agree to the deal. He has vowed to defeat Hamas before stopping the war, a term that has been a main sticking point throughout the negotiations.

    The families of hostages had demanded that Netanyahu nail down a deal before flying to Washington, where he will address Congress and is expected to meet President Joe Biden.

    Bill labelling aid agency a 'terror group' moves forward

    JERUSALEM, Israel -- An Israeli parliamentary bill that seeks to label the main provider of aid for Palestinians in Gaza a terrorist group is moving ahead.

    Legislators voted 50-10 in favour of the bill in a preliminary vote in Israel's parliament Monday. The bill requires two more votes before becoming law.

    The bill is the product of increasingly tense relations between Israel and the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, known as UNRWA. Israel has accused the agency of militant links, claiming that hundreds of its employees are members of militant groups, including some who allegedly participated in Hamas' Oct. 7 attacks on southern Israel. Those accusations led to a global cascade of funding cuts to the agency.

    UNRWA employs thousands of workers and provides vital aid and services to millions of people across the Middle East. In Gaza, it has been the main supplier of food, water and shelter to civilians during the Israel-Hamas war.

    The bill moving through parliament would brand the agency as a "terror group," saying that the employees' alleged involvement in the Hamas assault shows that "it is a terror organization that is no different from the Hamas terror organization." The bill also seeks to cut diplomatic ties between Israel and the agency.

    Juliette Touma, director of communications for UNRWA, said she wasn't entirely sure how the bill, if made law, would affect the agency, but said it would likely complicate its work. She said UNRWA is in contact with Israeli authorities on a daily basis, something the law would limit.

    The European Union, Qatar and Saudi Arabia have all previously expressed concern about the bill, saying it would hobble the agency's work.

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