UPDATE • Gaza talks wrap w ‘bridging proposal’ • Set to resume next week • Qatar FM 📞 Iran • Egypt FM in Lebanon • Hezbollah video of tunnel network • Blinken ✈️ to region Sunday, will meet Bibi (Israeli media) • France & UK FM in Israel al-monitor.com/originals/2024…

Just in — State Dept. announces Blinken will travel to Israel tomorrow to "continue intensive diplomatic efforts to conclude the agreement for a ceasefire and release of hostages."

Doha talks "probably were the most constructive 48 hours that we've had in this process in many months," senior admin official tells reporters. Describes the bridging proposal as "basically the May 27 text with some clarifications... what is on the table now, basically bridges

Netanyahu fends off US pressure, plays for time in Gaza ceasefire talks, as Iran seeks an off-ramp. Riffing on great reports by Elizabeth Hagedorn Ben Caspit בן כספית Jared Szuba Beatrice Farhat Joyce Karam al-monitor.com/originals/2024… Al-Monitor

♨️JUST IN ♨️ My interview with HPG Spox Serdar Yektaş: “From mountaintops to underground: PKK responds to Turkey’s drones” al-monitor.com/originals/2024… via Al-Monitor

Blinken's statement baffled some Israeli officials who told me that Netanyahu's hard lines are actually making a deal much harder to reach

Senior Biden administration official slams Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu's reported comments that he "maybe convinced" Secretary Blinken on Israeli stance that it will not pull out its troops from the Philadelphi corridor. "The only thing Secretary Blinken and the United States

NEW TONIGHT: President Biden approved the Gaza pier deployment despite internal pushback, an inspector general investigation found. Among the concerns raised: Rough seas would be challenging. washingtonpost.com/national-secur…

From Turkey, exiled Libyan Central Bank governor decries 'coup d'etat' (1/4) al-monitor.com/originals/2024… via Al-Monitor

Senior admin official briefed reporters on the cease-fire/hostage deal's sticking points, including the Philadelphi Corridor: - Text doesn't mention the corridor - Dispute over whether it is a "densely populated area" that Israel is required to withdraw from under Phase 1. -

NEW: After months of negotiations, a cease-fire partly hinges on whether a narrow strip of land in Gaza poses a strategic threat to Israel, as Netanyahu claims, or serves as an excuse to prolong the war for his political benefit. al-monitor.com/originals/2024…

BREAKING: US confirms death of Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, who was reportedly shot by Israeli troops during a protest. "We are aware of the tragic death of an American citizen, Aysenur Eygi, today in the West Bank," Matthew Miller says. "We are urgently gathering more information about

"We deplore this tragic loss," Blinken says of Aysenur Eygi's killing. "Let's find out exactly what happened and we will draw the necessary conclusions and consequences from that."

Hisham Dweikat, a protestor at event where Eygi was shot, tells Jared Szuba that the group was given no warning by Israeli military to disperse. “They fired the gas immediately. And after that they fired live ammunition.” al-monitor.com/originals/2024…

Sen. Van Hollen: "The United States cannot turn a blind eye" to the killing of American citizens. "If the Netanyahu Government will not pursue justice for Americans, the U.S. Department of Justice must."

Dr. Hisham Dweikat, a witness to today's protest in the West Bank during which a US-Turkish citizen was shot dead, said the IDF fired tear gas "without warning." Dweikat said clashes ensued, with children and young men throwing stones, but insisted they posed no real threat. The