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Palestinians inspect their destroyed homes Thursday after a strike on the al-Farouq Mosque in the Rafah refugee camp in southern Gaza. (Loay Ayyoub for The Washington Post)

Netanyahu presents post-war Gaza security plan as Israel joins Paris talks

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu released a postwar plan for Gaza that pushes for indefinite military control over the Palestinian enclave. In Paris, negotiators are trying to reach a deal for the release of hostages and a cessation of fighting in Gaza. An Israeli official said Israel’s delegation headed to Paris on Friday for the talks, which are expected to include senior U.S., Qatari and Egyptian officials.

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The Palestinian Authority condemned Netanyahu’s plan as “a formal declaration of the reoccupation of the Gaza Strip” and an obstruction of diplomatic efforts toward a Palestinian state. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters at a news conference in Argentina that the U.S. viewed “certain basic principles” as essential to any postwar plan, including “no Israeli reoccupation in Gaza.”
Under Netanyahu’s plan, Israel would maintain a security zone in northern Gaza as long as needed and have a presence on the enclave’s southern border with Egypt. The plan also conditions the reconstruction of Gaza on its “complete demilitarization” and opposes the “unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state.”
Israeli media reported that its negotiators in Paris would be led by Mossad chief David Barnea. Hamas said its delegation in Cairo wrapped up meetings with Egyptian officials on Gaza, including the prospect of exchanging hostages for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.
The head of the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) said the organization has “reached breaking point” after 16 donor countries froze funding worth $450 million over Israel’s accusations that some UNRWA staffers were involved in the Oct. 7 Hamas attack.
The Palestine Red Crescent evacuated 18 people from Nasser Hospital on Friday, transferring patients to other medical facilities in Rafah, Khan Younis and Deir al-Balah. It is the PRCS’s fourth evacuation mission since Israeli forces began an operation targeting Nasser.
At least 29,514 people have been killed in Gaza and 69,616 injured since the war began, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants. Israel estimates that about 1,200 people were killed in Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack and says 237 soldiers have been killed since the start of its military operation in Gaza.
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The Palestinian Authority condemned Netanyahu’s plan as “a formal declaration of the reoccupation of the Gaza Strip” and an obstruction of diplomatic efforts toward a Palestinian state. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters at a news conference in Argentina that the U.S. viewed “certain basic principles” as essential to any postwar plan, including “no Israeli reoccupation in Gaza.”
Under Netanyahu’s plan, Israel would maintain a security zone in northern Gaza as long as needed and have a presence on the enclave’s southern border with Egypt. The plan also conditions the reconstruction of Gaza on its “complete demilitarization” and opposes the “unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state.”
Israeli media reported that its negotiators in Paris would be led by Mossad chief David Barnea. Hamas said its delegation in Cairo wrapped up meetings with Egyptian officials on Gaza, including the prospect of exchanging hostages for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.
The head of the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) said the organization has “reached breaking point” after 16 donor countries froze funding worth $450 million over Israel’s accusations that some UNRWA staffers were involved in the Oct. 7 Hamas attack.
The Palestine Red Crescent evacuated 18 people from Nasser Hospital on Friday, transferring patients to other medical facilities in Rafah, Khan Younis and Deir al-Balah. It is the PRCS’s fourth evacuation mission since Israeli forces began an operation targeting Nasser.
At least 29,514 people have been killed in Gaza and 69,616 injured since the war began, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants. Israel estimates that about 1,200 people were killed in Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack and says 237 soldiers have been killed since the start of its military operation in Gaza.
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Israel-Gaza war

Israel-Gaza war: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu released a postwar plan for Gaza that pushes for indefinite military control over the Palestinian enclave. The U.S. opposition to an immediate cease-fire in Gaza came under repeated criticism during a two-day meeting of the chief diplomats of the world’s 20 largest economies.

Middle East conflict: Tensions in the region continue to rise. As Israeli troops aim to take control of the Gaza-Egypt border crossing, officials in Cairo warn that the move would undermine the 1979 peace treaty. Meanwhile, there’s a diplomatic scramble to avert full-scale war between Israel and Lebanon.

U.S. involvement: U.S. airstrikes in Iraq and Syria killed dozens of Iranian-linked militants, according to Iraqi officials. The strikes were the first round of retaliatory action by the Biden administration for an attack in Jordan that killed three U.S. service members.