Israel-Hamas war day 211: What's going on in Gaza?

Is Marwan Barghouti expected to be released soon from prison as part of the apparent hostage deal between Israel and Hamas? A Saturday report from Maariv citing the Saudi Asharq channel reported that Israel no longer opposes the release of Barghouti but insists on releasing him to Gaza and not to the West Bank. 

It was also reported that Hamas is expected to demand his name on the list of the first phase of the deal.

An Israeli official said that an Israeli delegation will not leave for Cairo until a response from Hamas is received on a possible hostage deal, KAN reported on Saturday.  

Additionally, senior Israeli sources were reported to have said, "If we send a delegation led by the head of the Mossad to Cairo, it will be an indication of a positive development regarding the framework of the ongoing hostage negotiations."

The Lebanese news channel "Al-Manar," which is associated with Hezbollah, reported that artillery fire had sounded near the village of Rachaya Al Foukhar in southern Lebanon on Saturday. 

This is a developing story. 

Minister-without-portfolio Benny Gantz, a member of Israel's war cabinet, cautioned against "hysteria" surrounding a possible hostage deal on Saturday. 

Gantz, in his statement, said, "An answer to the outline of the deal has not yet been received. When it is received, the war cabinet will convene and discuss it. Until then, I suggest to all "political elements" and all decision-makers to wait for official updates, behave calmly, and not go into hysteria for political reasons." 

This is a developing story. 

Israel Air Force jets struck targets in Gaza from which rockets were fired on Kibbutz Ein Hashlosha in southern Israel on Friday, according to an IDF statement on Saturday.

Launches were detected from Khan Yunis towards Israel on Saturday, although they fell near the security fence in southern Gaza. The IDF responded by targeting the areas from which the launches occured.

Israeli aircraft also struck a ready-to-fire mortar launcher aimed at IDF troops in the central Gaza Strip.

After the IDF confirmed the evacuation of civilians in the area, fighter jets struck rocket launchers aimed at Israel in the south of the Strip.

Israeli naval troops also struck terror targets and provided fire support, assisting IDF ground troops in the central Gaza Strip, the military added.

 At least 34,654 Palestinians have been killed and 77,908 wounded in Israel's military offensive on Gaza since Oct. 7, the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry said in a statement on Saturday.

Hamas will announce soon that it agreed to the Egyptian mediation proposal, according to Saturday Arab media reports.

Palestinian newspaper Al-Quds reported that the announcement would come within days, while Qatari government-aligned newspaper Al-Sharq reported that it would come within hours.

“In light of recent contacts with the mediator brothers in Egypt and Qatar, the Hamas delegation will head to Cairo [on] Saturday to complete the discussions,” Al-Sharq quoted Hamas as saying.

United States Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, speaking with Senator Mitt Romney on Saturday at a conference at the John McCain Institute in Arizona, laid the blame for the situation in Gaza on Hamas and stated that the onus was on the terror organization for advancing the proposed hostage deal

"We await to see whether, in effect, [Hamas] can take 'yes' for an answer on the ceasefire and release the hostages. And the reality in this moment is the only thing standing between the people of Gaza and a ceasefire is Hamas."

Blinken continued, "In the meantime, even as we are doing that, we are working every single day, the president is working every single day, to make sure that we are doing what we can so that the people in Gaza who are caught in a crossfire of Hamas's is making, get the help, the assistance, the support they need."

The IDF operated overnight and on Saturday morning to hunt down the killer of Elhanan Klein, according to Israeli media.

According to the report, the IDF raided the village of Deir al-Ghusun in the Tulkarm area, targeting the terrorists who carried out the attack last November near the town of Beit Lid on Highway 557, where Elhanan Klein, a father of three from Enav, was killed on his way back from reserve duty.

The terrorists barricaded themselves inside a house. Five wanted individuals were arrested in the nearby village of Sebastia near Nablus.

The IDF dismantled defenses and breached houses in Tulkarm, looking for a number of terrorists in the area.

US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken warned Qatar last month that they should expel Hamas senior officials if the terror group rejects another ceasefire proposal, the Washington Post reported Saturday morning.

Qatar reportedly responded that they told Hamas leadership to be prepared for a scenario in which they would be forced to leave the country.

Three senior officials cited in the report claimed Qatar was preparing for Hamas’s expulsion for months due to frustration with Hamas’s unwillingness to accept ceasefire proposals, frustration that has grown with Hamas's lack of response to the current proposal.