Israeli cabinet discusses Gaza talks; U.S. says no response from Hamas on proposal yet (2024)

The U.S. military said on Tuesday that it had destroyed an inbound anti-ship ballistic missile over the Gulf of Aden that was launched by Iranian-backed Houthis and likely targeting the MV Yorktown.

U.S. Central Command said on the social media site X that there were no injuries or damage reported to U.S., coalition or commercial ships in the incident.

U.S. President Joe Biden sharply criticized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over Israel's conduct in Gaza during an interview with Univision, set to air later Tuesday night.

"Well, I will tell you, I think what he's doing is a mistake. I don't agree with his approach," Biden said, one week after he gave his most explicit ultimatum to date concerning U.S. support for Israel's war after seven World Central Kitchen aid workers were killed in an Israeli strike.

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Relatives of the American hostages being held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip met Tuesday with U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, in what Rachel Goldberg – whose son, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, is among the hostages – called a "very productive meeting."

The families expressed both their "appreciation for the Biden Administration's tireless efforts to bring the hostages home and their frustration that – after six months – there is still not a deal to bring ALL of their loved ones home," they said in a statement.

According to the families, "Harris stressed that bringing the hostages home is the Biden Administration's highest priority and provided an update on the status of the U.S. efforts."

Jonathan Dekel-Chen, the father of American hostage Sagui Dekel-Chen, urged Hamas to come to the negotiating table to strike a hostage deal. "We are waiting now and the world waits for Hamas to get to yes. It is in their court," he said.

The White House said that Harris "underscored that President Biden and she have no higher priority than reuniting the hostages with their loved ones. She also reaffirmed the U.S. commitment to bring home the remains of those who have been tragically confirmed to be deceased."

Harris again condemned Hamas "as a brutal terrorist organization and its horrific use of sexual violence, reaffirmed that the threat Hamas poses to Israel must be eliminated, and denounced the rise of antisemitism worldwide."

U.S. Agency for International Development Administrator Samantha Power acknowledged on Tuesday that humanitarian aid into Gaza had risen sharply in the past few days, and said the higher level of aid should be sustained and increased further.

"We are seeing a sea change, which we hope is sustained and expanded upon," Power said at hearing of the U.S. Senate Appropriations subcommittee that oversees U.S. diplomatic and foreign assistance spending.

Israel said 468 aid trucks moved into Gaza on Tuesday, following 419 on Monday. That was the highest number in the six months since its air and ground campaign triggered by Hamas' Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel, but the United Nations said it was still much less than the bare minimum to meet humanitarian needs.

"We need to go way beyond the 500 trucks," Power said.

"We have famine-like conditions in Gaza and supermarkets filled with food within a couple of kilometers away," she said at the hearing, which focused on the agency's fiscal 2025 budget request.

Both Democrats and Republicans questioned Power closely about conditions in Gaza, reflecting increased concern among lawmakers about the humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian enclave.

Six months into Israel's conflict with Hamas, the solid support U.S. President Joe Biden's administration gave to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government has taken a serious hit.

Following the deaths of seven World Central Kitchen humanitarian aid workers, a clash over a possible military operation in Rafah, and Israel's failure to provide a vision for the "day after" the war in Gaza, there has been a "precipitous drop" in the standing of the Israeli prime minister both in the White House and Congress, Haaretz Washington correspondent Ben Samuels tells Haaretz Podcast host Allison Kaplan Sommer.

Also on the podcast, Hadar Susskind, President and CEO of Americans for Peace Now discusses his organization's support for Congress conditioning aid to Israel, a stance that has traditionally been controversial within the world of American Jewish advocacy groups but is gaining traction on Capitol Hill.

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Here's what you need to know on day 186 of the war. See a full recap of the day here.

■ The security cabinet is meeting to discuss the proposed hostage release deal, at the request of far-right ministers Ben-Gvir and Smotrich. Political sources criticized Netanyahu's decision to convene the security cabinet at such a sensitive time, out of fear that leaked information would sabotage negotiations for a deal.

■ The IDF said that the withdrawal of soldiers from Khan Yunis in Gaza was intended to allow the troops to be refreshed, and to enable fighting in Rafah.

■ According to sources, Gallant told the U.S. Defense Secretary that "there is no specific day for the operation in Rafah." U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that the Americans "do not have a date for any operation, at least one that's been communicated to us by the Israelis.

■ U.S., Israeli and Iranian officials told the New York Times that Iran operates a clandestine weapons smuggling route throughout the Middle East, using intelligence agents, militants and criminal gangs to deliver weapons to Palestinians in the West Bank.

■ The U.S. hostage deal proposal includes a six-week cease-fire and the release of 40 hostages in exchange for 900 Palestinian prisoners. According to the WSJ, the proposal also includes the return of up to 150,000 Palestinians to northern Gaza.

■ A top ranking Democrat said that he is still awaiting assurances from the Biden administration before signing off on an anticipated $18 billion sale of F-15 fighter jets to Israel.

■ Families of American hostages still held in Gaza met with top Biden administration officials in Washington to press for a deal to be made to release the hostages. It was the seventh meeting of hostage families with Jake Sullivan, the U.S. national security advisor, since October 7.