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U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has called on Hamas to get a cease-fire deal done, outlining Israel had made “very important” compromises in efforts to agree a truce.

Israel has offered a six-week pause in fighting and the release of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for 33 Hamas-held hostages.

U.S. Secretary Antony Blinken visited Israel to push for a cease-fire deal in the Israel-Hamas war. He warned that Hamas would be blamed if an agreement to end the conflict in Gaza is not reached.

U.S. Secretary Antony Blinken visited Israel to push for a cease-fire deal in the Israel-Hamas war. He warned that Hamas would be blamed if an agreement to end the conflict in Gaza is not reached.

Israel has submitted a proposal for a potential temporary cease-fire and hostage release deal that Hamas has not yet replied to. CBS News foreign correspondent Ramy Inocencio has more on the negotiation efforts.

STORY: "I'm a woman on my own with young girls to feed," says Asmaa al-Belbasi. This is how desperate she and other Gazans are for bread: she walks daily through the dangerous landscape of north Gaza, reduced to rubble by Israeli strikes... and where sporadic fighting breaks out between Israeli forces and Hamas militants. Aid agencies say famine still looms here though some bakeries have reopened and supplies are improving. It's an hour to the bakery and an hour home, she says. "We need to get to this area but can't by car because the roads are all blocked with rubble from strikes. The sun beats down and you find a long queue there from the morning and you're exhausted by the time you return - all for some bread." Restoring Gaza's bakeries and ensuring a regular supply of flour, water and fuel will be crucial to stopping famine. The first bakery re-opened mid-April using flour and fuel provided by the World Food Programme. Hundreds of people stood in line among the ruins and the bakers had to employ stewards to maintain order. Out of five run by Kamel Ajour Bakeries, it's the only one back up and running. Though the need is so high they're running a 24-hour operation, says the bakery's administrator Karam Ajour. "We suffered a lot of damage - more than 80 percent of our equipment across all our branches in the Gaza Strip. But with God's help, as much as possible, we were able to retrieve some of it and operate to provide for the people and produce bread.” Belbasi says she waits at least 20 minutes each day for two bags of flatbread, a staple for Gazans, which she needs for her children and other relatives. "What can we do," she says. There's no transport and no one to help her. Back at home, the girls are waiting anxiously for her safe return. And to eat. Pockets of famine are emerging in Gaza and children have died from malnutrition and dehydration. Even Israel's closest allies have increased pressure on it to do more to let in food. BELBASI: "Before they reopened the bakeries, we would get corn flour which you couldn't knead, it was like a log, it would come out like a biscuit. After a day or two it'd be difficult to eat." Israel has blockaded Gaza for months but aid started to flow in higher volumes into northern Gaza since it opened a new crossing point. But aid agencies warn it is still nowhere near enough and the WFP said last week northern Gaza is still heading towards famine.

STORY: U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem on Wednesday (May 1). The U.S. diplomat pushed for more aid into Gaza, while urging Palestinian Islamist group Hamas to accept a deal that would halt fighting and bring some hostages home from the enclave. Israel is the final stop on Blinken's seventh Middle East tour since conflict broke out on Oct. 7 when Hamas attacked southern Israel. It comes a month after U.S. President Joe Biden issued a stark warning that Washington's policy could shift, if Israel fails to take steps to address civilian harm, humanitarian suffering, and the safety of aid workers. Blinken reiterated on Wednesday that the U.S. position is that Hamas was "standing in the way of a ceasefire", according to the State Department. He has urged the group to accept what he called "an extraordinarily generous" truce deal proposed by Egyptian mediators. The deal would see 33 hostages released in exchange for a larger number of Palestinian prisoners and a halt to the fighting in Gaza, with the possibility of a more comprehensive deal later. A senior official for Hamas said the group was still studying the proposed deal but accused Blinken of failing to respect both sides and described Israel as the real obstacle. Blinken's trip to Israel comes amid growing speculation that Israel will soon launch a long-promised assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah. More than one million Palestinians displaced from their homes further north are sheltering there.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken also met with Israeli leaders in a push for a cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas. The proposal aims to free hostages and pause the conflict in Gaza. Photo: Tomer Appelbaum/AFP/Getty Images

STORY: LAPD confirmed on X that its officers were deployed and on campus "to assist in restoring order." The UCLA student newspaper Daily Bruin said supporters of Israel had tried to tear down a pro-Palestinian protest encampment on the campus. The Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel by Hamas militants from Gaza, and the ensuing Israeli offensive on the Palestinian enclave, have unleashed the biggest outpouring of U.S. student activism since the anti-racism protests of 2020.

STORY: Escorted by security, Blinken came out to the street to meet with protesters after meeting families of hostages being held by Hamas in Gaza. The crowd chanted their thanks to U.S. President Joe Biden and Blinken. Blinken on Wednesday kicked off a series of meetings with Israeli leaders, on his seventh visit to the region which has seen an escalation of violence since Oct. 7 when Hamas attacked Israel.

STORY: New York City police raided Columbia University and arrested dozens of pro-Palestinian demonstrators late on Tuesday. Groups of helmeted police marched into the elite university’s campus around 9 p.m. to remove a protest camp that the school has tried to dismantle for nearly two weeks. Some of the students had also seized Hamilton Hall, an academic building and a line of officers climbed into the second story using a police vehicle with a ladder. The NYPD released video of the raid on X, with a statement saying the school had requested assistance to 'take back their campus.' Shortly after officers had moved in, Columbia University President Minouche Safik requested that police stay on campus until at least May 17, two days after graduation, saying in a letter it was, 'to maintain order and ensure that encampments are not re-established'. Protesters say they have three demands from Columbia: Divesting from companies supporting Israel’s government, greater transparency in university finances, and amnesty for students and faculty disciplined over the protests. This week, Safik said Columbia would not divest from finances in Israel, but offered to invest in health and education in Gaza and also make Columbia’s holdings more transparent. Hours before the police entered the school, city officials claimed 'external actors' were provoking an escalation of the protests. New York City Police Commissioner Edward A. Caban: "We are seeing the tactics changing in a way that's endangering public safety. These once peaceful protests are being exploited by professional outside agitators and the safety of all students, faculty and staff are now a concern." One student protest leader Mahmoud Khalil has disputed the idea that outsiders led the occupation. Columbia has been the focal point of a wave of protests across the United States. More broadly, the October 7 attack on southern Israel by Hamas militants from Gaza, and the ensuing Israeli offensive on Gaza, have unleashed the biggest surge in American student activism since 2020’s anti-racism protests. Counter-protesters have accused demonstrators of fomenting anti-Jewish hatred. While the pro-Palestinian side say they are being unfairly branded as antisemetic for criticizing Israel’s government.

Pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli protesters clashed in Los Angeles on the campus of UCLA on Wednesday in the latest escalation of demonstrations against the Israel-Hamas war that have spread to college campuses nationwide.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Washington's views on a Rafah incursion are "very well-known," as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged on Tuesday it would happen. Netanyahu said Israel would enter Rafah, which Israel says is Hamas' last stronghold, regardless of whether a truce-for-hostages deal is struck.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is again signaling he will go ahead with a ground invasion of the southern Gaza city of Rafah, despite pleas from thousands of protesters to broker a deal to bring back the rest of the hostages held by Hamas. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is in Israel to try to get Hamas to accept a deal. Debora Patta has the latest.