Middle East conflict live updates: U.N. team finds credible claims hostages were subjected to sexual abuse

Vice President Harris met Monday at the White House with Benny Gantz, a member of Israel’s war cabinet, urging Israel to take additional measures to increase aid in Gaza and calling on Hamas to accept a six-week cease-fire deal, according to a White House readout. Gantz, a political rival of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, will meet Tuesday with Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

Philippe Lazzarini, head of the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), accused Israel on Monday of “a deliberate and concerted campaign” aimed at undermining the agency’s operations. “The implementation of this plan is already underway,” he said in a statement to the U.N. General Assembly, in which he also criticized Netanyahu for “openly stating that UNRWA will not be part of postwar Gaza.” Israel has alleged that about a dozen UNRWA employees were involved in the Oct. 7 attack and that many are also members of Hamas.

A new round of talks is underway in Cairo on a deal that would pause fighting and release hostages held by Hamas in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. Egyptian state media reported Sunday that Hamas, Qatari and U.S. officials were in Cairo. Israel will not send a high-level delegation to Egypt until Hamas responds to questions about the deal’s framework, an Israeli official with knowledge of the talks told The Washington Post.

At least 30,534 people have been killed and 71,920 injured in Gaza since the war began, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants. Israel estimates that about 1,200 people were killed in Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack and says 246 soldiers have been killed since the start of its military operation in Gaza.