The US has called on Hamas to agree to a bridging proposal for a ceasefire in Gaza after it gained the backing of Israel.
Speaking after a meeting with Israel’s prime minister, US secretary of state Antony Blinken said Benjamin Netanyahu had agreed with the proposal – which would lead to a ceasefire and see the return of Israeli hostages.
The US politician did not say whether the so-called bridging proposal addressed Israel’s demands for control over two strategic corridors inside Gaza – a condition Hamas has previously called a non-starter – or other issues that have long bedevilled the negotiations.
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Mr Blinken said there were still “complex issues” requiring “hard decisions by the leaders,” without offering specifics.
“There is a real sense of urgency here, across the region, on the need to get this over the finish line and to do it as soon as possible. The United States is deeply committed to getting this job done,” Mr Blinken said.
“[The proposal] is the single best way not only to get the hostages home [and] to ease the suffering of people in Gaza, it is also the best way to make sure that conflict doesn’t spread, that we don’t see escalation, that we can actually defuse some of the pressure points that we see throughout the region, and then open prospects for trying to build a more enduring peace and security for everyone throughout the Middle East.”
In what Mr Blinken described as a “very constructive” meeting with Mr Netanyahu, he said the violence committed by settlers in the West Bank came up in discussions – but the secretary of state did not elaborate.
Mr Blinken added that he would also be travelling to Egypt and Qatarsoon and that Israel had committed to sending an expert team to the two countries.
The US, Egypt, and Qatar have spent months trying to broker an agreement, with the talks repeatedly stalling.
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The key sticking point which could collapse bridging proposal for Gaza ceasefire
Antony Blinken’s announcement is an optimistic end to a day that began with serious doubts about the potential ceasefire.
Although the details haven’t been revealed, it concerns the presence of Israeli forces in strategic parts of Gaza in the event of a deal.
Benjamin Netanyahu has insisted the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) remain along the Philidelphi Corridor, the border between Gaza and Egypt.
This was a valuable smuggling route for Hamas for years, and Netanyahu says he cannot allow Hamas a chance to re-arm if the IDF withdraws.
Israeli officials are insisting that remains their position, and so whatever the US workaround is, is intriguing, although it might involve a partial or phased pull-back and security cooperation with Egypt and a third party.
Hamas has repeatedly rejected any continued presence of the Israeli military in Gaza, even reiterating that position to Sky News in recent days.
The US, one of three mediators in the talks, is unlikely to have put forward a proposal without believing it has at least a chance of receiving approval from Hamas, but if the group sticks to its demand for a full Israeli withdrawal then the bridging proposal will quickly collapse.
The high-stakes negotiations have gained speed in recent days as diplomats hope an agreement will deter Iran and Lebanon’s Hezbollah from avenging the targeted killings of two top militants, that Tehran has blamed on Israel.
The escalating tensions have raised fears of an even more destructive regional war.
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Mother and her six children killed in Gaza
The secretary of state had earlier said the latest push for a deal was probably the best and possibly last opportunity, urging both sides towards agreement.
Despite US expressions of optimism and Mr Netanyahu’s office describing the meeting as positive, both Israel and Hamas have signalled that any deal will be difficult.
Hamas accused Mr Netanyahu on Sunday of “thwarting the mediators’ efforts” and Turkey said Hamas envoys had told it that US officials were “painting an overly optimistic picture”.
The current conflict in Gaza began in the wake of 7 October last year when Hamas gunmen stormed across the border into Israel, killing around 1,200 people and abducting about 250 hostages according to Israeli tallies.
Israel’s military campaign has since levelled swathes of Gaza, displacing the majority of its 2.1 million population, and killing at least 40,000 people, according to the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza.
A body has been recovered from a South African mine after police cut off basic supplies in an effort to force around 4,000 illegal miners to resurface.
The body has emerged from the closed gold mine in the northwest town of Stilfontein a day after South Africa’s government said it would not help the illegal miners.
Around 20 people have surfaced from the mineshaft this week as police wait nearby to arrest all those appearing from underground.
It comes a day after a cabinet minister said the government was trying to “smoke them [the miners] out”.
The move is part of the police’s “Close the Hole” operation, whereby officers cut off supplies of food, water and other basic necessities to get those who have entered illegally to come out.
Local reports suggest the supply routes were cut off at the mine around two months ago, with relatives of the miners seen in the area as the stand-off continues.
A decomposed body was brought up on Thursday, with pathologists on the scene, police spokesperson Athlenda Mathe said.
It comes after South African cabinet minister Khumbudzo Ntshavheni told reporters on Wednesday that the government would not send any help to the illegal miners, known in the country as zama zamas, because they are involved in a criminal act.
“We are not sending help to criminals. We are going to smoke them out. They will come out. Criminals are not to be helped; criminals are to be prosecuted. We didn’t send them there,” Ms Ntshavheni said.
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Senior police and defence officials are expected to visit the area on Friday to “reinforce the government’s commitment to bringing this operation to a safe and lawful conclusion”, according to a media advisory from the police.
In the last few weeks, over 1,000 miners have surfaced at various mines in South Africa’s North West province, where police have cut off supplies.
Many of the miners were reported to be weak, hungry and sickly after going for weeks without basic supplies.
Illegal mining remains common in South Africa’s old gold-mining areas, with miners going into closed shafts to dig for any possible remaining deposits.
The illegal miners are often from neighbouring countries, and police say the illegal operations involve larger syndicates that employ the miners.
Their presence in closed mines has also created problems with nearby communities, which complain that the illegal miners commit crimes ranging from robberies to rape.
Illegal mining groups are known to be heavily armed and disputes between rival groups sometimes result in fatal confrontations.
In the courtyard of a farmhouse now home to soldiers of the Ukrainian army’s 47th mechanised brigade, I’m introduced to a weary-looking unit by their commander Captain Oleksandr “Sasha” Shyrshyn.
We are about 10km from the border with Russia, and beyond it lies the Kursk region Ukraine invaded in the summer – and where this battalion is now fighting.
The 47th is a crack fighting assault unit.
They’ve been brought to this area from the fierce battles in the country’s eastern Donbas region to bolster Ukrainian forces already here.
Captain Shyrshyn explains that among the many shortages the military has to deal with, the lack of infantry is becoming a critical problem.
Sasha is just 30 years old, but he is worldly-wise. He used to run an organisation helping children in the country’s east before donning his uniform and going to war.
He is famous in Ukraine and is regarded as one of the country’s top field commanders, who isn’t afraid to express his views on the war and how it’s being waged.
His nom de guerre is ‘Genius’, a nickname given to him by his men.
‘Don’t worry, it’s not a minefield’
Sasha invited me to see one of the American Bradley fighting vehicles his unit uses.
We walk down a muddy lane before he says it’s best to go cross-country.
“We can go that way, don’t worry it’s not a minefield,” he jokes.
He leads us across a muddy field and into a forest where the vehicle is hidden from Russian surveillance drones that try to hunt both American vehicles and commanders.
Sasha shows me a picture of the house they had been staying in only days before – it was now completely destroyed after a missile strike.
Fortunately, neither he, nor any of his men, were there at the time.
“They target commanders,” he says with a smirk.
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It takes me a moment or two to realise we are only a few steps away from the Bradley, dug in and well hidden beneath the trees.
Sasha tells me the Bradley is the finest vehicle he has ever used.
A vehicle so good, he says, it’s keeping the Ukrainian army going in the face of Russia’s overwhelming numbers of soldiers.
He explains: “Almost all our work on the battlefield is cooperation infantry with the Bradley. So we use it for evacuations, for moving people from one place to another, as well as for fire-covering.
“This vehicle is very safe and has very good characteristics.”
Billions of dollars in military aid has been given to Ukraine by the United States, and this vehicle is one of the most valuable assets the US has provided.
Ukraine is running low on men to fight, and the weaponry it has is not enough, especially if it can’t fire long-range missiles into Russia itself – which it is currently not allowed to do.
Sasha says: “We have a lack of weapons, we have a lack of artillery, we have a lack of infantry, and as the world doesn’t care about justice, and they don’t want to finish the war by our win, they are afraid of Russia.
“I’m sorry but they’re scared, they’re scared, and it’s not the right way.”
Like pretty much everyone in Ukraine, Sasha is waiting to see what the US election result will mean for his country.
He is sceptical about a deal with Russia.
“Our enemy only understands the language of power. And you cannot finish the war in 24 hours, or during the year without hard decisions, without a fight, so it’s impossible. It’s just talking without results,” he tells me.
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These men expect the fierce battles inside Kursk to intensify in the coming days.
Indeed, alongside the main supply route into Kursk, workers are already building new defensive positions – unfurling miles of razor wire and digging bunkers for the Ukrainian army if it finds itself in retreat.
Sasha and his men are realistic about support fatigue from the outside world but will keep fighting to the last if they have to.
“I understand this is only our problem, it’s only our issue, and we have to fight this battle, like we have to defend ourselves, it’s our responsibility,” Sasha said.
But he points out everyone should realise just how critical this moment in time is.
“If we look at it widely, we have to understand that us losing will be not only our problem, but it will be for all the world.”
Stuart Ramsay reports from northeastern Ukraine with camera operator Toby Nash, and producers Dominique Van Heerden, Azad Safarov, and Nick Davenport.
The adverse weather could lead to total insured losses of more than €4bn (£3.33bn), according to credit rating agency Morningstar DBRS.
Much of the claims are expected to be covered by the Spanish government’s insurance pool, the agency said, but insurance premiums are likely to increase.