We begin in israel where the us secretary of state, antony blinken, has arrived on his ninth visit to the region since the war in gaza began to push once again for a ceasefire and hostage release deal. The us and israel have expressed careful optimism about a deal since talks resumed last week. But hamas denies progress is being made and accused israel of adding new conditions to the agreed proposals. Earlier, the israeli prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, insisted israel could not be flexible on all issues, accusing hamas of being obstinate. Our state department correspondent tom bateman is travelling with antony blinken and has this update from tel aviv. Well, the air is thick with a bit of optimism and a lot of expectation, when it comes to antony blinken. One senior official i was talking to on the way here used phrases like this being an inflection point, a critical moment in terms of what they want to get from this ceasefire deal. Some are talking in terms of their hopes that
The us and israel have expressed careful optimism about a deal since talks resumed last week. However, prime minister benjamin netanyahu has accused hamas of being stubborn and warned there were things his government could not be flexible about. In a statement released just hours after blinken s arrival, hamas said that a new proposal for a gaza ceasefire was too close to mr netanyahu s recent positions. The armed group has again accused israel of obstructing a deal by adding new conditions to earlier proposals, and rejecting a permanent ceasefire and withdrawal from gaza. President biden maintained that a gaza ceasefire remained a possibility, adding, we re not giving up. The talks come as air strikes continue in gaza. Palestinian health authorities said israeli air strikes killed at least 21 people in gaza on sunday. Among those dead were six children and their mother in the central city of nuseirat. Our state department correspondent tom bateman is travelling with mr blinken, and he
Hello, i m catherine byaruhanga. The us secretary of state antony blinken has arrived in israel on his 9th visit to the region since the war in gaza began to push once again for a ceasefire and hostage release deal. The us and israel have expressed careful optimism about a deal since talks resumed last week, but hamas denies progress is being made. This afternoon, the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu insisted israel could not be flexible on all issues and accused hamas of being obstinate. Jenny hill sent this report. There s a crushing familiarity to gaza s grief. Funerals for those killed overnight in israeli airstrikes. Israel insists it s targeting hamas fighters. This was an entire civilian family, mohammed says. A woman and her six children. As the human cost of this conflict surges, so too does the risk it will spill over into all out regional war. Urgent diplomacy is under way. The us secretary of state, antony blinken, arriving in tel aviv hoping to seal a ceasefire
Hello, i m martine croxall. Ukraine s air force say they ve destroyed another bridge in russia s kursk region. Air force commander mykola oleshchuck released this footage, saying russia was minus one more bridge and that strikes were depriving them of logisitical capabilities. It comes almost two weeks after ukraine s surprise cross border operation into russia. These are the latest pictures from the rostov region in south west russia. The governor there says firefighters were called to put out a fire at an industrial facility struck by debris from a ukrainian drone. Both sides say air defences destroyed multiple drones and missiles fired by the other side overnight. Ukraine s offensive in the kursk region represents the first time in more than 80 years that a foreign army has seized and occupied russian territory. The attack has shocked the russian public, who d been lead to believe that their country s border was safely guarded. Our russia editor steve rosenberg sent this report from
Hello, i m catherine byaruhanga. The us secretary of state antony blinken has arrived in israel on his 9th visit to the region since the war in gaza began, to push once again for a ceasefire and hostage release deal. The us and israel have expressed careful optimism about a deal since talks resumed last week. But hamas denies progress is being made. This afternoon, the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu insisted israel could not be flexible on all issues and accused hamas of being obstinate. Jenny hill sent this report. There s a crushing familiarity to gaza s grief. Funerals for those killed overnight in israeli airstrikes. Israel insists it s targeting hamas fighters. This was an entire civilian family, mohammed says. A woman and her six children. As the human cost of this conflict surges, so too does the risk it will spill over into all out regional war. Urgent diplomacy is under way. The us secretary of state, antony blinken, arriving in tel aviv hoping to seal a ceasefire a