Friday Briefing: Hamas Considers Israel’s Proposal

The leader of Hamas’s political wing said that the group was studying Israel’s latest proposal for a deal with a “positive spirit,” and that the group would soon attend a new round of talks in Cairo. His statement raised hope for the stalled effort.

The proposal, which the U.S. has pushed in recent days, would include a weekslong temporary truce — its exact duration is unclear — as well as the release of hostages held by Hamas and Palestinian prisoners in Israel. It would also allow civilians to return to northern Gaza, and enable increased delivery of aid to the territory.

In Israel, the war cabinet met to discuss the cease-fire negotiations and a planned invasion of Rafah, where around a million people have been sheltering, according to an Israeli official. The anticipated offensive, which the U.S. has repeatedly urged Israel to abandon, has been a seemingly intractable sticking point in the cease-fire talks. If it goes forward, Hamas has promised to end negotiations immediately.

U.S. campuses: President Biden condemned the violence unfolding at universities across the country. He said Americans have “the right to protest, but not a right to cause chaos.” He rejected the notion of sending in the National Guard, which some Republicans have suggested.

The U.S. accused Russia of using chemical weapons, including poison gas, against Ukrainian forces. That would violate the Chemical Weapons Convention, an arms control treaty ratified by more than 150 countries, including Russia.

The State Department said Russia had deployed tear gas and chloropicrin, a “choking agent” that was widely used during World War I. It added that the use of these chemical weapons was “not an isolated incident,” and was probably driven by Russian