Israel and Hamas are locked in Gaza truce talks with goals that seem impossible to reconcile.

Israeli negotiators are seeking not only the release of dozens of hostages taken on Oct. 7 but also the freedom to resume a military campaign to crush Hamas once and for all after any cease-fire ends, said mediators at the talks in Qatar. In contrast, Hamas is essentially negotiating for its survival, pushing for a lasting truce and ways to remain influential in postwar Gaza, if no longer its ruler.

Hamas proposed a ceasefire to quiet the guns in Gaza for four-and-a-half months, during which all hostages would go free, Israel would withdraw its troops from the Gaza Strip and an agreement would be reached on an end to the war.

Israel's government spokesman said Israel was studying the offer intently, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu due to hold a press conference later on Wednesday.

Hamas has presented its response to a proposal for a ceasefire and hostage deal in Gaza by calling for a phased Israeli withdrawal from the enclave during a four-and-a-half-month truce and a plan to permanently end the war, according to a copy of the group’s counteroffer obtained by CNN.

Hamas has offered to release all remaining Israeli hostages in exchange for a 135-day cease-fire, a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and the release of well over 1,000 Palestinian prisoners.

The terrorist organization made the offer to Israel on Tuesday in response to previous terms sent to them last week by Egypt and Qatar. The three-phase plan would see Israeli hostages released in stages – women and children first – in exchange for the Palestinian prisoners being held in Israel, including 500 Hamas would choose from a list of those serving life sentences..

The Palestinian militant group Hamas said on Tuesday it had delivered its response to a proposed ceasefire deal for Gaza, and the United States said it believed an agreement was possible.

You’ve probably never seen Antony Blinken get mad. When it happens, there’s no mistaking it.

He doesn’t yell or scream. But his voice changes in a way those close to him struggle to describe beyond the word “intense.” He becomes very blunt about what he wants. If there’s a table in front of him, he’ll tap it for emphasis.

The secretary of State has shown this quiet fury in private these last few months as he’s tackled the Israel-Hamas war, the trickiest challenge so far in his tenure.

In the months after Hamas committed the worst atrocity against Jews since the Holocaust, conflict has spread across the Middle East. In all, ten countries are now caught up in fighting. In Gaza Israeli soldiers and Hamas are still killing each other, even as 2m people face famine. Across the border with Lebanon, Hizbullah and Israel are in a low-grade war. The Houthis in Yemen are attacking cargo ships, aggravating a financial crisis in Egypt and triggering retaliation by America and Britain.

U.S. officials in Beijing resumed talks with China Tuesday on tackling the narcotics trade, a sore spot for the two countries’ relations amid mounting evidence that Chinese companies are supplying global drug cartels with the chemicals needed for fentanyl production.

Negotiations stalled after China pulled the plug on initial dialogue in 2022, following former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan. But President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping agreed to cooperate on drug trade at the APEC meeting in November.

In a break from long standing religious tradition, Saudi Arabia is set to open its first ever liquor store within a few weeks. 

The decision—led by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman—is historic for the kingdom, which has enforced stringent prohibition measures against alcohol since it was first banned in 1952.

The consumption of alcohol is forbidden in Islam, but the incoming store will only sell alcohol to non-Muslims in Riyadh’s diplomatic quarter, and authorization must be sought through an app called Diplo, Reuters reported. 

Saudi Arabia’s first alcohol store has opened in the diplomatic quarter of its capital Riyadh, accessible to non-Muslim diplomats. 

While it only affects a select group, it’s a big change for the highly conservative Muslim kingdom, where alcohol has been banned since 1952 after a Saudi prince murdered a British diplomat in a drunken rage. Drinking is also forbidden under Islam, and most of Saudi Arabia’s local population is religiously observant.