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Palestinian children suffering from malnutrition receive treatment at a health-care center in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on Tuesday. (Mohammed Abed/AFP/Getty Images)

Middle East conflict live updates Hamas says it will continue cease-fire negotiations

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Hamas said Wednesday morning that it will continue to negotiate through mediators toward a cease-fire deal, with talks underway in Egypt, and that it has shown flexibility in the talks so far. A day earlier, an Israeli government spokesman told reporters that Israel has put its “cards on the table,” expressing hope for an agreement. A former Egyptian official familiar with the negotiations said the United States was putting great pressure on Israel to reach a deal.

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The babies of 5,500 women who are due to give birth in the next month in Gaza are at risk of dying, the U.N. agency for children, UNICEF, reported. Mothers do not have access to prenatal or postnatal checkups because of bombings, it said. Anxiety is also leading to premature births.
Benny Gantz, a member of Israel’s war cabinet and a political rival of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, met with Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Senate Majority Leader Schumer during his U.S. visit, which will be followed by a trip to the United Kingdom. Austin requested Gantz’s support for increasing humanitarian shipments to the Gaza Strip, according to a Pentagon readout.
Blinken on Tuesday expressed concern about a potential environmental disaster in the Red Sea, mentioning a cargo ship that sank after it was struck by a missile launched by Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen. That ship, the Rubymar, has been spilling oil and fertilizer into the sea, according to U.S. Central Command.
At least 30,631 people have been killed and 72,043 injured in Gaza since the war began, according to the Gaza 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 246 soldiers have been killed since the start of its military operation in Gaza.
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The babies of 5,500 women who are due to give birth in the next month in Gaza are at risk of dying, the U.N. agency for children, UNICEF, reported. Mothers do not have access to prenatal or postnatal checkups because of bombings, it said. Anxiety is also leading to premature births.
Benny Gantz, a member of Israel’s war cabinet and a political rival of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, met with Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Senate Majority Leader Schumer during his U.S. visit, which will be followed by a trip to the United Kingdom. Austin requested Gantz’s support for increasing humanitarian shipments to the Gaza Strip, according to a Pentagon readout.
Blinken on Tuesday expressed concern about a potential environmental disaster in the Red Sea, mentioning a cargo ship that sank after it was struck by a missile launched by Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen. That ship, the Rubymar, has been spilling oil and fertilizer into the sea, according to U.S. Central Command.
At least 30,631 people have been killed and 72,043 injured in Gaza since the war began, according to the Gaza 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 246 soldiers have been killed since the start of its military operation in Gaza.
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Israel-Gaza war

Israel-Gaza war: The latest round of talks on a deal that would pause fighting and release hostages for Israeli-held Palestinian prisoners remains underway in Cairo. Hamas said Wednesday that it will continue to negotiate through mediators.

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.