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Negotiators near deal with Hamas to release hostages
Negotiators are getting closer to an agreement with Hamas to release an initial 50 civilians in exchange for Israel allowing in more aid including fuel, coinciding with a limited pause in fighting, multiple sources told CBS News. More civilian hostage releases could potentially follow.
At this stage, there is no firm deal in hand but rather a written draft agreement that is being passed between parties who remain locked in what were described to CBS News as very difficult talks brokered with the help of the U.S. and Qatar, according to two sources familiar.
In an interview with “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan,” White House deputy national security advisor Jon Finer said that “many areas of difference that previously existed” in the hostage talks “have been narrowed,” and that the U.S. is “closer than we have been to reaching a final agreement.”
Finer said it would not be helpful to detail the developing diplomacy in public, and acknowledged the caveat that past deals had been close before collapsing. Hopes were high last week that a breakthrough in diplomacy was finally imminent, but two officials in the region cited the Israeli military move on al-Shifa hospital as having complicated diplomacy with Hamas.
A source familiar with the draft agreement told CBS News that the proposal as it stands now would involve 50 hostages being released on day one with a limited pause in fighting that would last around four days for a duration of six hours a day. If that release and pause happens as planned, there would be a second release of around 20-25 hostages, according to this source. White House officials declined to comment on the sensitive diplomacy.
In a press conference on Sunday in Doha, Qatar’s Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani described the remaining sticking points to the emerging deal between Israel and Hamas as “very minor” logistical matters and said the parties are “close to reaching an agreement.”
Sources familiar with the talks have said there are several recent complicating issues, including whether overhead surveillance would happen during the releases. Israel has also demanded that Hamas provide some accounting for the captives it holds or can obtain from other militant groups such as Islamic Jihad, as the total figure of more than 200 hostages remains just an estimate. Last week, two of those unaccounted for who were believed to have been hostages, Noa Marciano and Yehudit Weiss, were found dead by the IDF nearby the 45,00-square-meter al-Shifa hospital complex in Gaza. The remains of those slaughtered by the terror group Hamas and other militants during the Oct. 7 attack in Israel continue to be identified.
“Obviously, Gaza is an extremely dangerous place to be a civilian, to be a hostage held at this point,” Finer told CBS’ Margaret Brennan, “so there is a time imperative.”
Finer said he wouldn’t use the phrase “running out of time,” but “we feel acutely that this should be done as soon as possible.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told CBS News’ Norah O’Donnell last week that Israel had “strong indications” hostages were held in al-Shifa hospital, which was one of the reasons he cited for the Israeli Defense Forces’ decision to enter al-Shifa. However, Netanyahu added “if there were they were taken out.”
The United States has not produced intelligence to confirm the assessment, but did issue downgraded intelligence last week that Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad members operate a “command and control node” from al-Shifa hospital and tunnels underneath, and have used it for both weapons and hostages.
Finer said the U.S. is still confident in its assessment, and said that the Israeli military is still “exploiting” the al Shifa facility to find further information.
On Saturday in Manama, President Biden’s top Mideast adviser Brett McGurk described the hostage talks as intensive and ongoing before heading to Doha for meetings with the Qatar Prime Minister that night. In public comments, McGurk echoed Israel’s call for the release of a “large number of hostages” in order to lead to a “significant pause in fighting” and what he described as a “massive” surge of humanitarian relief. He acknowledged that one of Hamas’ demands has been to receive fuel and humanitarian supplies. McGurk did not make public mention of an earlier request by Hamas for the release of an undetermined number of Palestinian women and children from Israeli detention centers.
“That’s the bargain they set,” McGurk has said from the earliest days. McGurk said the onus remains on Hamas to release all of the hostages – “the women, the children, the toddlers, the babies, all of them.”
CIA director Bill Burns is back in Washington but has remained involved following his meetings in recent weeks with the Mossad chief. President Biden himself has been working the phones, calling Qatar’s Emir on November 12th and as recently as Friday, an indication that a resolution was near.
Qatar is using its relationship with Hamas to mediate and the U.S. is helping to broker proposals that are passed from a tight circle in Doha to Hamas leaders in Gaza as well as Israel’s five-person war cabinet that is led by Netanyahu.
CBS News
Former New York Gov. David Paterson, stepson attacked while walking in New York City
NEW YORK — Former New York Gov. David Paterson and his stepson were attacked in New York City on Friday night, authorities said.
The incident occurred just before 9 p.m. on Second Avenue near East 96th Street on the Upper East Side, according to the New York City Police Department.
Police said officers were sent to the scene after an assault was reported. When officers arrived, police say they found a 20-year-old man suffering from facial injuries and a 70-year-old man who had head pain. Both victims were taken to a local hospital in stable condition.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the former governor said the two were attacked while “taking a walk around the block near their home by some individuals that had a previous interaction with his stepson.”
The spokesperson said that they were injured “but were able to fight off their attackers.”
Both were taken to Cornell Hospital “as a precaution,” he added.
Police said no arrests have been made and the investigation is ongoing.
The 70-year-old Paterson, a Democrat, served as governor from 2008 to 2010, stepping into the post after the resignation of Eliot Spitzer following his prostitution scandal. He made history at the time as the state’s first-ever Black and legally blind governor.
CBS News
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Teen critically wounded in shooting on Philadelphia bus; one person in custody
A 17-year-old boy was critically injured and a person is in custody after a gunman opened fire on a SEPTA bus in North Philadelphia Friday evening, police said.
At around 6:15 p.m., Philadelphia police were notified about a shooting on a SEPTA bus traveling on Allegheny Avenue near 3rd and 4th streets in North Philadelphia, Inspector D F Pace told CBS News Philadelphia.
There were an estimated 30 people on the bus at the time of the shooting, Pace said, but only the 17-year-old boy was believed to have been shot. Investigators said they believe it was a targeted attack on the teenager and that he was shot in the back of the bus at close range.
According to Pace, the SEPTA bus driver alerted a control center about the shooting, which then relayed the message to Philadelphia police, who responded to the scene shortly.
Officers arrived at the scene and found at least one spent shell casing and blood on the bus, but no shooting victim, Pace said. Investigators later discovered the 17-year-old had been taken to Temple University Hospital where he is said to be in critical condition, according to police.
Through their preliminary investigation, police learned those involved in the SEPTA shooting may have fled in a silver-colored Kia.
Authorities then found a car matching the description of the Kia speeding in the area and a pursuit began, Pace said. Police got help from a PPD helicopter as they followed the Kia, which ended up crashing at 5th and Greenwood streets in East Mount Airy. Pace said the Kia crashed into a parked car.
The driver of the crashed car ran away but police were still able to take them into custody, Pace said.
Investigators believe there was a second person involved in the shooting who ran from the car before it crashed. Police said they believe this person escaped near Allegheny Avenue and 4th Street, leaving a coat behind.
According to Pace, police also found a gun and a group of spent shell casings believed to be involved in the shooting in the same area.
“It’s very possible that there may have been a shooting inside the bus and also shots fired from outside of the bus toward the bus,” Pace said, “We’re still trying to piece all that together at this time.”
This is an active investigation and police are reviewing surveillance footage from the SEPTA bus.
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