By Heather Chen, Sana Noor Haq, Aditi Sangal, Elise Hammond, Maureen Chowdhury and Tori B. Powell, CNN
From CNN's Ami Kaufman in London
Israel's Foreign Minister Israel Katz has said that Israel "will not cease fire" after the UN Security Council passed a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire for the month of Ramadan, the immediate and unconditional release of hostages, and "the urgent need to expand the flow" of aid into Gaza.
Israel "will destroy Hamas and continue to fight until the last of the hostages returns home," Katz said on X on Monday.
From CNN's Ami Kaufman
Israel's Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan from the White House on Monday that the outcomes of the war in Gaza "will impact the region for decades to come."
"The meeting was held in private, over a period of one-and-a-half hours," according to a statement released by the Israeli government.
"The Minister and (US) Advisor discussed efforts to ensure the release of hostages held by the Hamas terrorist organization in Gaza, as well as the measures required to ensure the destruction of Hamas' governing and military capabilities," the statement said.
From CNN's Jeremy Diamond and Lauren Izso
Tensions between the US and Israel were exposed on Monday when Washington stood aside and allowed the UN Security Council to pass a resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.
The US decision to abstain from the vote prompted Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to cancel a scheduled trip to the US by two of his top advisers, two Israeli officials said.
Israel’s national security adviser Tzachi Hanegbi and Ron Dermer, a member of the war cabinet and close adviser to Netanyahu, had been scheduled to travel to Washington on Monday night to discuss a planned ground offensive in Rafah and US alternatives, but the visit was canceled after the vote.
“We’re very disappointed that they will not be coming to Washington, DC, to allow us to have a fulsome conversation with them about viable alternatives to going in on the ground in Rafah,” US National Security spokesman John Kirby said.
State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller called the cancelation “surprising and unfortunate.”
From CNN's Mohammed Tawfeeq and Charbel Mallo
At least two people were killed as a result of Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon on Monday, according to Lebanon's state-run NNA news.
The airstrikes hit an area in the town of Meiss El Jabal, near the border with Israel, NNA said in the report.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on Monday that "IDF fighter jets struck a Hezbollah military structure in the area of Meiss El Jabal."
The airstrike came after "an aircraft identified Hezbollah terrorists inside a military post in the area of Abou Chach. In response, fighter jets were directed to strike the military post, as well as the terrorists inside it," IDF said in the statement.
According to figures released by the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health on March 20, at least 316 people have been killed since October 8 as a result of the "Israeli aggression against southern Lebanon."
At least 91,300 people have been displaced from areas and towns close to the border with Israel since the conflict started, the country's Health Ministry said in its report.
From CNN's Kareem Khadder
Hamas said it has informed mediators that it will hold to its original "position and vision," that it presented on March 14 on a complete ceasefire in Gaza.
The group said that Israel has not responded to "a complete ceasefire, withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, the return of the displaced people," according to a Hamas statement released on Monday.
Hamas said they are holding Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government "full responsibility for thwarting all negotiation efforts and obstructing reaching an agreement so far."
From CNN’s Alex Marquardt
US officials remain in Doha to continue discussions over a ceasefire deal after CIA Director Bill Burns traveled to the Qatari capital for meetings with Israel’s intelligence chief and fellow mediators Egypt and Qatar, according to a source familiar with the discussions.
CNN previously reported that technical teams remained after Mossad Director David Barnea left Doha on Saturday.
The source also confirmed that the current proposal is for 40 Israeli hostages to be released by Hamas in exchange for around 700 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons, dozens of whom have life sentences.
CNN affiliate Channel 11 (Kan News) and CNN analyst Barak Ravid reported the number of those with life sentences could be as high as 100.
Separately, a US official said Monday that progress was made over the weekend and expressed optimism that an agreement will come together.
Aside from the ratio of hostages to prisoners being negotiated, the official said, there are discussions about the ability of Palestinians to move around Gaza once the expected six-week ceasefire starts, about getting more humanitarian aid in, and the location of Israeli troops.
The discussions are tedious and slow, the official added, because Hamas representatives engaging in the talks in Doha and elsewhere then have to send the proposals into Gaza for the head of Hamas there, Yahya Sinwar, to respond.
Sinwar is believed to be hiding in part of Gaza’s extensive tunnel system, US and Israeli officials say.
From CNN’s Mostafa Salem and Kareem Khadder
Hamas pushed back against reports that mediators are waiting for its response to a hostage-prisoner exchange deal, and said more issues remain unresolved.
Israel reportedly agreed to a key issue on the number of Palestinian prisoners to be released in exchange for hostages held in Gaza, according to CNN analyst Barak Ravid and CNN affiliate Channel 11 (Kan News) — both citing unnamed Israeli officials.
According to Ravid, a Hamas response was expected in the coming days.
But Hamas senior officials Basem Naeim and Hussam Badran separately pushed back on the media reports.
Naeim told CNN that “Israeli-American media” are adding pressure on the talks.
“For us, the negotiations are not only centric around the prisoner exchange deal,” he said.
“Israel has not agreed to any of [Hamas] requests related to a complete ceasefire, the withdrawal of all forces from the Gaza Strip, even in stages, and the return of all displaced people to their homes,” Naeim said.
Another Hamas official, Hussam Badran corroborated the statement, saying on Hamas’ official page on Telegram that Israel is refusing to give “any guarantees to mediators on basic issues” related to the “lives of people in Gaza.”
“We… are negotiating to reach a clear and specific goal related to the needs and requirements of our people in general and Gaza in particular,” Badran said on Telegram.
From CNN staff
A Hamas response to a US proposal for an exchange of Israeli hostages in Gaza and Palestinian prisoners could take up to three days, according to reporting from CNN analyst and Axios reporter Barak Ravid, who said he has spoken to Israeli officials.
“Those details need to go from Hamas representatives in Doha, who are negotiating, to the person who really calls the shots, and this is Hamas leaser Yahya Sinwar in Gaza who is in a bunker some 100 feet under the ground, so this takes a long time until the message gets to him and until the message gets back,” Ravid told CNN’s Omar Jimenez in an interview on Sunday.
Ravid said the proposed exchange will “definitely include some” US hostages because it will include the release of men over the age of 50.
“The fact that Israel agreed is a result of a US written proposal put forward by the CIA director Bill Burns,” Ravid said.
Ravid earlier reported that Israel has agreed to a US proposal on a prisoner-hostage exchange that would release around 700 Palestinian prisoners, among them 100 serving life sentences for killing Israeli nationals, in exchange for the release of 40 Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza.
CNN affiliate Channel 11 (Kan News) also reported on the proposed deal Sunday, citing senior Israeli sources.
From CNN's Niamh Kennedy in London
Israel has harshly criticized a plan devised by the leaders of Ireland, Spain, Malta and Slovenia to work towards the recognition of Palestinian statehood, questioning the appropriateness of such a move in the wake of the October 7 attacks.
Lior Haiat, a spokesperson for the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the recognition of Palestinian statehood following October 7 would "send a message" to Hamas that "terror attacks on Israelis" would be reciprocated with "political gestures to the Palestinians."
The spokesperson said that such a recognition would serve as a "reward for terrorism," in a post on X.
During a meeting on the sidelines of the European Council summit in Brussels last week, the leaders of the four EU nations discussed their "readiness to recognise Palestine," according to a joint statement.
The leaders pledged to do so "when it can make a positive contribution and the circumstances are right."
