Israel considers cease-fire plan as reports of development come in

Israel’s group of leaders for war has been given information about discussions for a ceasefire agreement in Gaza. There are reports that progress has been made in the discussions that took place in Paris on Saturday.

The police stopped protests in Tel Aviv where people were asking Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to step down.

Police on horses attacked people protesting as they were trying to go to Democracy Square.

The Paris talks are for discussing ways to make peace and bring back the hostages.

The agreement would also include letting Palestinian prisoners go free from Israeli jails.

On Saturday night, the leaders of Israel discussed the talks in Paris with people from Egypt, Qatar, and the US.

Mr Netanyahu wrote that we are trying to get a new plan to release our hostages.

That’s why I sent a group of people to Paris, and tonight we will talk about what to do next in the negotiations.

Israel will send a group to Qatar for more talks this week.

People in Israel protested against their government a lot before Hamas attacked on October 7. They really didn’t like Mr. Netanyahu and his strict cabinet for over a year.

However, this Saturday was the first time since October that police have used harsher actions to control the situation.

The protesters are motivated by the war in Gaza and the concern that their government is focused on defeating Hamas instead of saving hostages.

The Justice Ministry is looking into a video where an officer used a horse’s reins to hit a protester on the ground. The video is being shared a lot.

Yair Lapid, who is the main leader against the government, said the police were too rough with the people protesting outside the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) headquarters.

He said that protesting is a right that should not be stopped by using batons and water cannons.

At least 21 people were arrested and many people were hurt.

In addition to the protest against the government, the families of the Israeli hostages came together in the city to ask for a peaceful solution to the war and to bring their loved ones back home.

Earlier on Saturday, Israeli news said that the talks in Paris about a deal to release hostages and stop fighting had gone well.

Israel’s top spy, David Barnea, met with diplomats from Egypt, Qatar and the US in Paris on Saturday.

They apparently agreed on a rough plan for a deal to use as a starting point for more talks. This plan was then shared with the Israeli war cabinet on Saturday night.

The Israeli government is sending a group of people to Qatar to talk about making a deal. The deal would mean stopping the fighting for a few weeks and releasing some hostages in exchange for letting go of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners held in Israel.

However, Tzachi Hanegbi, the Israeli national security adviser, said in a TV interview on Saturday evening that the agreement doesn’t mean the war is over.

A high-up Palestinian official who knows a lot about the talks had told the BBC before that not much progress was made in Paris. They also said that the negotiators were sharing wrong information on purpose to put more pressure on Hamas.

Hamas has not said anything about the recent reports of making a deal.

Meanwhile, there is still fighting and air strikes in Gaza that are causing people to die.

Mr Netanyahu said he will get his team together to talk about a plan for a mission in Rafah in Gaza. A lot of people live in a small area there. More Israeli air strikes are making it harder to help people in need.

Organizations that help people and some Western governments have said that if Rafah is attacked, it could be very bad.

The UN agency that helps Palestinian refugees has stopped giving aid in northern Gaza because people are stealing the supplies. On 5 February, one of its trucks was also shot at by the Israelis.

The UN says there is a greater chance of not having enough food in Gaza. There are videos of people in Jabalia waiting for food in really bad situations.

The news says that a two-month-old baby from Palestine died because he didn’t have enough food at al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City on Friday.

The health ministry run by Hamas says that at least 29,600 Palestinians have died in Israeli attacks, and there are probably many more people who have died but their bodies have not been found yet under the collapsed buildings in Gaza.

Israel promised to defeat Hamas after the attacks on southern Israeli towns near Gaza. About 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed and 250 were taken hostage.