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Netanyahu Asks Biden for ‘Reasonable Deal’ his Cabinet Could Approve

US President Joe Biden's meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Tel Aviv last October (AP)
US President Joe Biden's meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Tel Aviv last October (AP)
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Netanyahu Asks Biden for ‘Reasonable Deal’ his Cabinet Could Approve

US President Joe Biden's meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Tel Aviv last October (AP)
US President Joe Biden's meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Tel Aviv last October (AP)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked US President Joe Biden not to believe the Israeli press, which he said had "falsely" accused him of not being interested in a prisoner exchange deal with Hamas, according to political sources in Tel Aviv.

The Hebrew website Walla reported that Netanyahu confirmed during his call with Biden that he was interested in reaching an agreement but aimed for a reasonable deal that his cabinet could approve.

- Obstructing the Rafah operation

Walla's political reporter Barak Ravid said he relies on several Israeli and US officials for his sources and stressed that Biden seemed affected by the accusations against Netanyahu.

According to Ravid, Biden asked the Israeli PM to send a delegation to Cairo with serious efforts to ensure the success of the negotiations.

According to the report, Netanyahu responded that contrary to reports and interpretations in the Israeli media, he was very serious to make a deal, citing his willingness to release a Palestinian prisoner for every Israeli taken captive by Hamas.

The Israeli PM also suggested a one-day ceasefire for every single captive released, unlike the previous deal.

The prime minister emphasized to the president that he was ready to strike a hostage deal, even if that meant stopping the Israeli army’s operations, especially plans to enter Rafah in the Gaza Strip.

Biden said that Hamas' demands were exaggerated.

- Israeli dispute

As for the negotiations, Israeli media reports stated that there are sharp disagreements within Israel, which are favoring war over a hostage deal.

Despite Netanyahu's statements to Biden and the families of Israeli detainees, he rejected a new draft presented to him a few hours before the Israeli delegation headed to Cairo for the talks.

The Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation (Kan 11) reported that the Mossad, the Shin Bet, and the Israeli army have developed a new proposal regarding a prisoner exchange deal.

However, Netanyahu, Army Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi, and Defense Minister Yoav Galant rejected it.

Kan 11 pointed out that the new proposal was prepared by the head of Mossad, David Barnea, the head of the Shin Bet, Ronen Bar, and Maj-Gen reservist Nitzan Alon, commanding intelligence efforts to find the detainees.

The report stated that the proposal was brought "several times" for discussion with Netanyahu, the last of which was hours before the Israeli delegation headed to Cairo.

Kan 11 quoted a source that it said was familiar with the negotiations, saying that the new proposal includes several changes with a certain degree of flexibility, which paves the way for a breakthrough in the talks. The source refused to give further details.

The report stressed that Netanyahu refused the proposal and categorically rejected its presentation in the Cairo talks. He instructed the delegation to only "listen" during its participation in the negotiations.

Alon refused to go to Cairo after Netanyahu rejected the draft, and instead, the PM sent his military advisor.

Channel 13 reported "dramatic disagreements" in Israel regarding the new proposal.

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World

Huge Power Outage Paralyzes Parts of Spain and Portugal

This photograph shows a flamenco dress factory without light and workers during a massive power cut affecting the entire Iberian peninsula and the south of France, in Seville on April 28, 2025. (AFP)
This photograph shows a flamenco dress factory without light and workers during a massive power cut affecting the entire Iberian peninsula and the south of France, in Seville on April 28, 2025. (AFP)
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Huge Power Outage Paralyzes Parts of Spain and Portugal

This photograph shows a flamenco dress factory without light and workers during a massive power cut affecting the entire Iberian peninsula and the south of France, in Seville on April 28, 2025. (AFP)
This photograph shows a flamenco dress factory without light and workers during a massive power cut affecting the entire Iberian peninsula and the south of France, in Seville on April 28, 2025. (AFP)

A huge power outage hit large parts of Spain and Portugal on Monday, paralyzing traffic, grounding flights, trapping people in elevators and leaving power operators scrambling to restore power to millions of homes and businesses.

Some hospitals halted routine work and the two countries' governments convened emergency cabinet meetings, with officials initially saying a possible cyber-attack could not be ruled out. Outages on such a scale are extremely rare in Europe, and the cause could not immediately be established.

Reuters witnesses said power had started returning to the Basque country and Barcelona areas of Spain in the early afternoon, a few hours after the outage began. It was not clear when power might be more widely restored.

Hospitals in Madrid and Cataluna in Spain suspended all routine medical work but were still attending to critical patients, using backup generators. Several Spanish oil refineries were shut down and retail businesses shut.

The Bank of Spain said electronic banking was functioning "adequately" on backup systems, though residents also reported ATM screens had gone blank.

"I'm in a data center, and everything has gone off. All the alarms popped up, and now we're with the groups, waiting to find out what happened," said Barcelona resident and engineer Jose Maria Espejo, 40.

In a video posted on X, Madrid Mayor Jose Luis Martinez-Almeida urged city residents to minimize their journeys and stay where they were, adding: "It is essential that the emergency services can circulate."

In Portugal, water supplier EPAL said water supplies could also be disrupted, and queues formed at stores by people rushing to purchase emergency supplies like gaslights, generators and batteries.

The main Portuguese electricity utility, EDP, said it had told customers it had no forecast for when the energy supply would be "normalized", Publico newspaper said. It warned it could take several hours.

Parts of France also suffered a brief outage. RTE, the French grid operator, said it had moved to supplement power to some parts of northern Spain after the outage hit.

Play at the Madrid Open tennis tournament was suspended, forcing 15th seed Grigor Dimitrov and British opponent Jacob Fearnley off the court as scoreboards went dark and overhead cameras lost power.

TRAFFIC JAMS

Spanish radio stations said part of the Madrid underground was being evacuated. There were traffic jams in Madrid city center as traffic lights stopped working, Cader Ser Radio station reported.

Hundreds of people stood outside office buildings on Madrid’s streets and there was a heavy police presence around key buildings, directing traffic as well as driving along central atriums with lights, according to a Reuters witness.

One of four tower buildings in Madrid that houses the British Embassy had been evacuated, the witness added.

Local radio reported people trapped in stalled metro cars and elevators.

Portuguese police said traffic lights were affected across the country, the metro was closed in Lisbon and Porto, and trains were not running.

Lisbon's subway transport operator Metropolitano de Lisboa said the subway was at a standstill with people still inside the trains, according to Publico newspaper.

A source at Portugal's TAP Air said Lisbon airport was running on back-up generators, while AENA, which manages 46 airports in Spain, reported flight delays around the country.

Such widespread outages are unusual in Europe. In 2003 a problem with a hydroelectric power line between Italy and Switzerland caused a major outage across the whole Italian peninsula for around 12 hours.

In 2006 an overloaded power network in Germany caused electricity cuts across parts of the country and in France, Italy, Spain, Austria, Belgium, Netherlands and as far as Morocco.