Overview

• Benny Gantz appealed to Benjamin Netanyahu, Yair Lapid and Avigdor Lieberman to form a short-term cross-party cabinet dedicated to securing the release of roughly 50 hostages and sidelining far-right ministers.
• He said a bloc combining Likud, Yesh Atid, Israel Beiteinu and his National Unity party could assemble a majority of about 72 out of 120 Knesset seats.
• Netanyahu announced he ordered immediate negotiations to free all hostages and end the war on terms acceptable to Israel, though the government has not confirmed sending a negotiating delegation.
• Mediators say Hamas approved in principle a plan for a 60-day ceasefire with phased hostage releases in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.
• Tens of thousands demonstrated in Tel Aviv to demand a hostage deal and a clear path to end the war.