TOP OF THE AGENDA

'Decisive moment' in Gaza ceasefire talks

The Israeli military said it had destroyed rocket launchers used to hit Israel from the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis. Credit: EPA

Antony Blinken said this latest round of negotiations is "a decisive moment, probably the best, maybe the last opportunity" to secure a ceasefire and hostage release deal in Gaza. The US secretary of state spoke as he returned to Israel for the ninth time since the start of the conflict in Gaza that followed Hamas's deadly attack in southern Israel on 7 October, during which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage. More than 40,000 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry. A ceasefire deal agreed in November saw Hamas release 105 of the hostages in return for a week-long ceasefire and the freeing of some 240 Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons. Israel says 111 hostages are still being held, 39 of whom are presumed dead. The terms of a new ceasefire deal were presented in May, and recent talks brokered by the US, Qatar and Egypt focus on "narrowing the gap" between Israel and Hamas.

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• In the West Bank: A Palestinian man was shot dead as dozens of Israeli settlers attacked a village, setting fire to houses and cars, Palestinian officials say.

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• Cross-border fire: Lebanon said an Israeli air strike on a building housing Syrian refugee in the city of Nabatieh has killed 10 people. Israel said it had targeted a Hezbollah weapons depot, a claim denied by the owner of the facility.

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• US politics: Internal party debate over the war in Gaza could undercut Democrats' harmony during the convention that is starting today in Chicago.

WORLD HEADLINES

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• High-profile abduction: Libya's central bank has announced the suspension of all its operations after its information technology director Musab Msallem was kidnapped in the capital Tripoli.

• Patrick Delaney: The boss of Foxtel - a majority News Corp-owned cable television company in Australia - has "unreservedly" apologised after an image surfaced of him performing a Nazi salute.

• Under pressure: Social media platform X has closed its office in Brazil after a Supreme Court judge threatened its legal representative in the country with arrest if it did not comply with his order to block certain accounts.

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