Summary:

• US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called top Israeli officials Sunday to discuss a proposed deal for a truce in Gaza, the State Department said. Blinken spoke with war Cabinet Minister Benny Gantz and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, according to statements, and “commended” Israel for the proposal outlined by US President Joe Biden.

• At least 12 ‘pro-Iranian’ fighters were killed in an overnight Israeli strike that targeted a factory near Aleppo in the north of Syria,” the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported early Monday.

• At least 36,439 Palestinians have been killed and 82,627 wounded in Israel’s war in Gaza, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry. Some 1,170 people were killed in the Hamas-led October 7 attacks and 250 people were taken hostage, according to Israeli figures, with 132 still missing.

• Israel‘s military reported more air strikes and ground combat on Sunday in central Rafah, Gaza’s southernmost city, as well as the Zeitun and Sabra areas in Gaza City in the north.
• White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said on Sunday that if Hamas agrees to the deal to end the Gaza war, the US expects Israel to also accept the plan.
• Following a meeting with US and Israeli delegations in Cairo on Sunday, Egypt stuck with its position that Israel must withdraw from the Rafah crossing for it to operate again, Egyptian media reported. No aid has entered Gaza from Egypt since Israel seized control of the Palestinian side of the crossing on May 7. 

(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP & Reuters)