News Wrap: Netanyahu clashes with Biden over conditions for permanent cease-fire in Gaza

John Yang:

Good evening. I'm John Yang. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has thrown up a hurdle to President Biden's proposed path to ending the war in Gaza. He said there can be no permanent ceasefire until Hamas military and governing capabilities are destroyed.

In a statement, Netanyahu said the notion that Israel will agree to a permanent ceasefire before these conditions are fulfilled is a nonstarter. On Friday, Mr. Biden said Israel's bombardment of Gaza has left Hamas no longer capable of another large scale attack on Israel, like October 7, and that it is time for this war to end.

The families of Israelis held hostage in Gaza called on both Israel and Hamas to take the deal. Hamas said it views the president's proposal positively, as do many war weary Gaza residents.

Akram Abu Al-Hasan, Displaced Palestinian (through translator):

This proposal came late, but better late than never, we hope from God, the American administration and the European Community in general to continue to put pressure on Israel for a ceasefire.

John Yang:

Netanyahu also accepted an invitation from the bipartisan congressional leadership to address a joint meeting of the House and Senate.

A barrage of 100 Russian missiles and drones targeted the power grid across Ukraine today. At least 19 people were injured, eight of them children. The attack came as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is attending a defense summit in Singapore. He's trying to convince more Asian and western countries to supply weapons to his country and cut ties with Moscow.

South Africa's ANC party has lost its majority in parliament for the first time since the end of white minority rule 30 years ago. The party, once led by Nelson Mandela, got just over 40 percent of the vote in national elections this week. South Africa is struggling with high unemployment, electricity and water shortages and rampant crime.

And an attempt to launch Boeing's first astronaut flight was called off at the last minute today, the latest in years of technical problems and costly delays for the Starliner project. The astronauts were in the capsule on the launch pad and just minutes away from heading to the International Space Station when a computer detected a problem and shut down the countdown at three minutes, 50 seconds.

That's one more bit of unwelcome news for Boeing, whose commercial airliners have been scrutinized for safety issues.

Still to come on PBS News, what relaxed COVID guidelines mean for people with disabilities and why rents are still higher in much of the country than before the pandemic.