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       Secretary of State Antony Blinken with President Isaac Herzog of Israel yesterday.Credit...Pool photo by Kevin Mohatt

       Israel agreed to a proposal to help cease-fire talks, the U.S. said Secretary of State Antony Blinken said yesterday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had accepted a “bridging proposal” aimed at closing the gap between Israel and Hamas on a cease-fire deal for Gaza.

       A spokesman for Netanyahu confirmed that the prime minister had told Blinken that Israel had agreed to the proposal, which U.S., Egyptian and Qatari mediators presented last week. Blinken discussed the proposal during a three-hour meeting with Netanyahu in Jerusalem.

       Hamas officials did not immediately comment, but they have called the proposal slanted toward Israel.

       What’s next: Negotiations on a cease-fire deal are expected to resume this week in Egypt. Blinken said that the talks represent “probably the best, maybe the last” chance to bring the hostages home and “put everyone on a better path to enduring peace and security.”

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       On the ground:

       Israel said it had carried out strikes across central and southern Gaza. Palestinian officials said the strikes had killed 25 people since Sunday.

       Hamas’s military wing and Islamic Jihad took responsibility for what they said was a suicide bombing in Tel Aviv late Sunday.

       U.S. ELECTION 2024

       The presidential election is less than 80 days away. This is what we’re watching.

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       Hillary Clinton onstage at the 2016 Democratic National Convention.Credit...Doug Mills/The New York Times

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