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Added on the 23/04/2019 13:01:37 - Copyright : Wochit
Hundreds of Israeli protesters gather around a fire set outside the Defence Ministry in Tel Aviv as they rally to demand early elections and a deal to release hostages held in Gaza since Hamas's October 7 attacks. IMAGES
The United States says an Israel-Hamas deal to free hostages in return for a pause in fighting remains possible and would have "tremendous" benefits, after a deadly Israeli operation freed two captives. "We do believe that a deal is possible and we're going to continue to pursue it," State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller tells reporters during a briefing. "We think the benefits of a pause and a deal for hostages are tremendous, not just obviously for the hostages who would be released but also for the humanitarian effort in Gaza and for our ability to begin to pursue a real and lasting, sustainable resolution of this conflict," he adds. SOUNDBITE
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken voices hope for a deal to free hostages from Gaza but said more work was needed after briefing Israeli leaders on a Qatari-brokered proposal. IMAGES
"There's still a lot of work to be done. But we continue to believe that an agreement is possible and indeed essential, and we will continue to work relentlessly to achieve it," US Secretary of State Antony Blinken tells reporters in Doha after being informed of the reply by Qatar. SOUNDBITE
Women rights groups hold a protest in Tel Aviv calling for a deal to free the hostages taken by Hamas on 7 October. Hamas militants seized about 250 hostages. Israel says 132 remain in Gaza including at least 29 people believed to have been killed. IMAGES
The nationalist pro-Irish Irish party Sinn Fein says the installing of a nationalist first minister in North Ireland, after the main pro-UK party agreed to endorse a deal with London, will be "a moment of very great significance". Speaking in Belfast, Sinn Fein president Mary Lou McDonald says it will mark "the extent of change that has occurred here in the north and indeed right across Ireland". The The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP agreement with London -- approved on January 30 in an internal vote at a closed-door meeting in Lisburn, near Belfast -- formed a basis to restore the Northern Ireland Assembly, that has been paralysed for nearly two years. SOUNDBITE
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