Overseas now to Israel, where Secretary of State Anthony Blinken
is meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu amid growing tensions
with the administration over the war in Gaza and the
humanitarian
crisis. Matt Gutman is in Tel Aviv with the latest.
Good morning, Matt.
Hey, good morning, George. Secretary of State Blinken arrived here
with a stark new message from the White House Ceasefire
now.
And it comes just hours before the US is set
to present a new ceasefire resolution to the UN Security
Council calling for an immediate and sustained ceasefire tied to
a hostage release. Now we understand there are about 100
living hostages still being held in Gaza,
5 of them Americans. But this is a significant change
in the US position.
the US has blocked three previous UN ceasefire resolutions.
And of course, the US has been much more critical
of Israel's handling of the war,
saying it needs to do more to prevent an emerging
famine in Gaza.
And of course, Israel's Prime Minister,
Netanyahu, President Biden, have been openly sparring about Israel's insistence
on this invasion.
Rafa were 1.5 million Palestinians are sheltering,
many of them suffering catastrophic hunger.
But a note of optimism from the secretary,
who said that there is some progress in those hostage
talks but also some challenges.