🔴 Live: 'Time for haggling to stop' on Gaza truce, Blinken says

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken gives a joint press conference with his Qatari counterpart in Doha on June 12, 2024. © Karim Jaafar, AFP

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken vowed Wednesday to keep pressing to seal a Gaza ceasefire deal, saying that not all of Hamas’s proposed amendments were acceptable but voicing hope that gaps could be closed. "The longer this goes on, the more people will suffer, and it's time for the haggling to stop," he said. Follow our liveblog for all the latest developments.

Summary:

• A UN investigation concluded on Wednesday that Israel has committed crimes against humanity during the war in Gaza, including that of “extermination”, and that Palestinian armed groups have also committed war crimes. 
• US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters in Qatar Wednesday that the war in Gaza would go on after Hamas proposed “numerous” changes to a US-backed cease-fire plan, some that he said were “workable” and some not. 
• Hamas on Wednesday said its "positive" response to a US ceasefire plan for Gaza opened a "wide pathway" to reach an agreement but the outlook for a breakthrough was uncertain as neither the Palestinian group nor Israel publicly committed to a deal.
• At least 37,202 Palestinians have been killed and 84,932 wounded in Israel’s war in Gaza, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry. Some 1,170 people were killed in the Hamas-led October 7 attacks and 250 people were taken hostage, with about 120 remaining in Gaza, according to Israeli tallies. Many have been declared dead by Israeli authorities.

Yesterday's key developments:

• An Israeli official said the country had received a reply from Hamas on a proposed ceasefire deal via mediators and that Hamas had "changed all of the main and most meaningful parametres".

• An Israeli strike on southern Lebanon killed a senior Hezbollah commander, the Iran-backed militant group said. It named the commander as Sami Abdallah, also known as Abu Taleb, in a statement reporting his death.

• The UN human rights office said Tuesday that both Israeli forces and Palestinian armed groups may have committed war crimes in connection with a deadly raid by Israeli forces that freed four hostages and killed at least 274 Palestinians over the weekend.

• US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced $404 million in new US assistance for the Palestinians during a summit in Jordan aimed at boosting humanitarian aid for Gaza. 

• Blinken earlier on Tuesday met with key Israeli opposition figures including Benny Gantz, the former army chief who quit Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's government on Sunday.

• A floating US military pier off Gaza has resumed bringing humanitarian aid into the enclave after being suspended for two days because of rough seas due to weather, three US officials said.

• Hamas said that one of its commanders in the occupied West Bank was killed in a clash with Israeli forces.

About casualty figures from Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry:

Gaza’s health ministry collects data from the enclave’s hospitals and the Palestinian Red Crescent.

The health ministry does not report how Palestinians were killed, whether from Israeli airstrikes and artillery barrages or errant Palestinian rocket fire. It describes all casualties as victims of “Israeli aggression”.

The ministry also does not distinguish between civilians and combatants. 

Throughout four wars and numerous skirmishes between Israel and Hamas, UN agencies have cited the Hamas-run health ministry’s death tolls in regular reports. The International Committee of the Red Cross and Palestinian Red Crescent also use the numbers.

In the aftermath of war, the UN humanitarian office has published final death tolls based on its own research into medical records. The UN's counts have largely been consistent with the Gaza health ministry’s, with small discrepancies. 

For more on the Gaza health ministry’s tolls, click here.

(FRANCE 24 with AP) 

(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP & Reuters)