President Biden is again applying pressure on Israel over its actions in Gaza. The president spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the weekend. The White House said Biden made it clear that the U.S. would not support a potential invasion of Rafah without an explicit plan to protect civilians. But a source says the primary focus of the call was a potential hostage deal with Hamas. It comes after the group released a video of two hostages on Saturday on the left as Israeli Omri Moran. On the right is American Israeli Keith Segal. In the video, Segal pleaded for Israel to negotiate a hostage release deal that appeared he he was speaking under some duress. CNN cannot verify where or when the video was shot. Meanwhile, the secretary of state is in Saudi Arabia right now. As Hamas is considering a new deal calling for the release of hostages held since October 7th in exchange for a pause in the fighting in Gaza. This morning, Tony Blinken said Israel has presented Hamas with, quote, an extraordinarily generous proposal, adding that the militant group is the only thing standing between the people of Gaza and a cease fire. Let's get the latest from CNN national security correspondent Kylie Atwood. Kylie over at the State Department for us. Kylie. What can you tell us about this proposal? Well, listen, as you said, the secretary of state very clearly this morning saying that in the U.S. opinion, what has been put on the table by Israel for Hamas is an extraordinarily, quote, generous proposal. And he called on Hamas to accept that deal. He also said that they have to accept it quickly. And our reporting is that some of the demands that Israel had been making has been lessened. And so it appears that this could be a proposal that Hamas could accept. And the reason for him saying that Hamas has to act quickly is because the backdrop here is that Israel has been saying for some time they plan to invade Rafah. And U.S. officials are very eyes wide open about the fact that they are likely to go ahead with that invasion if there isn't an agreement here for a cease fire and for hostages to be released. So time is truly of the essence. Yeah. And clearly, a source tells CNN that there's a worry inside the State Department that Israel is not using American provided weapons in accordance with international law. What's going on there? Yeah. So there is not a consensus opinion within the State Department as to if Israel is using those american-made weapons in accordance with international law. That's according to a State Department official who spoke with my colleague, Jennifer Handler. And this is important because this is all going to come to the fore next week. There is a requirement due to a new national security memorandum that President Biden signed at the end of last year for the State Department, for the secretary to provide an actual assessment as to with all of the countries using american-made weaponry are doing so in accordance with international law. These countries are supposed to provide their rationale, their explanation for the fact that they do believe they are in accordance with international law. The State Department assesses that, provide that to Congress. But because there is disagreement within the State Department over this right now, it's going to be interesting to see what the final determination from the secretary of state actually is next week when he provides that assessment to Congress Jim. All right. Very important development there. Kylie Atwood, thank you very much. U.S. Secretary of state is back in the Middle East for the seventh time since the start of the Israel-Hamas war and is urging Hamas to accept the latest framework for a Gaza cease fire. Anthony Blinken meeting today with regional foreign ministers and other top diplomats at a special forum, a special World Economic Forum meeting, rather, in Riyadh. It comes as a Hamas delegation in Cairo is there to discuss the new proposal for a truce, which calls for the release of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners. Over the span of several weeks in exchange for a temporary cease fire and the restoration of sustainable calm. I want to play for you a little bit more from that meeting with the Saudi foreign minister was asked specifically about the situation in Gaza and Saudi Arabia's role. Take a listen. The situation in Gaza obviously is a catastrophe by every major humanitarian, but also a complete failing of the existing political system to deal with that crisis. We in the region are not going to focus only on solving the crisis of the moment. We are going to look at how we can solve the bigger problem in the context of Gaza. That is a real commitment to a two-State solution. That is a credible, irreversible path to a Palestinian state. That's the only reasonable and credible solution that guarantees us from not having to come back to this same situation, to three, four years down the line. The shadow minister of state for foreign affairs also pointing to reduced conflict in the region. Take a listen. Our objective is to link the region with the world and to be able to put the resources of the region together so we can create synergies that have a positive impact on all the inhabitants of the region. This is complicated by the tensions that we have in the region. So our objective is to try to put an end to these tensions so we can focus on the things that matter. Economic development and prosperity. The crisis in Gaza, understandably top of mind at the World Economic Forum conference. That is where my colleague Becky Anderson sat down with the forum's president. They began by speaking about the future of the enclave and what will be needed to help rebuild. There will be no willingness among any donors to rebuild Gaza if there's no guarantee that there will not be a Gaza war again, because we will rebuild something that will be bombed again. That means an irreversible path to a Palestinian state. From the conversations that you are having here and these are around that a unified Arab strategy for Gaza and Palestinians going forward, is your sense that we are close? I think with the cease fire in Gaza, at least there will be a willingness to have real political discussions. What is in it for Israel is, of course, a potential deal with, for example, Saudi Arabia and Saudi Arabia will then gain additional support from the US on the military side. But we know that this has taken time also before. And I guess there is also the complications with the political situation in Israel. Is there a willingness to work for a two-State solution? And then we have the American elections coming up too, that some people say that is not possible to move before or after those elections because a plan, though, I think has to also be supported very strongly from outside. You will have to have the Arab countries and the US and other key players saying this is the deal Take it or leave it. Important points, of course, as in terms of the economic picture for the region. It is not defined, of course, by conflict. It's incredibly complex. The host of the World Economic Economic Forum is a case in point. Here's more about Saudi Arabia's current trajectory. So it is very significant that Saudi Arabia have reached already this big milestone of 50% of the economy is now based on oil and gas. This was the plan for 2030 that the conference launched and now we are in 2024. So this is incredible. But we also see other these days doing really well also with their investments knowing they have a lot of talent there. Qatar but then the Middle East is kind of. There is the JCC and then there are other Middle Eastern countries that are really really struggling. I'm assuming that you will look at a country like the kingdom and say here's a great example of how that kind of portfolio comes together successfully again. How how does one take what is going on here and around this region as a starter for ten as it were? When you're looking at the wider world. So Saudi Arabia is going by thing investments. That's important. We're seeing people also expats coming to the kingdom and they also have an open trade policy. They're reducing tariffs and they're not sticking to protectionism. The challenge globally is that trade was the engine of growth for decades. So trade was growing much faster than the global economy. Now trade is growing slower. Then that is also leading to more anemic growth of what we have to avoid is that the twenties become the 1970s. So how do you avoid the twenties becoming the 1970s like this? It's also important to look at some of the success stories of these past decades. So we are faced with that. Globalization is a different globalization. I think on the global trends, we will not only have a situation where you stick to comparative advantages, you will have nurturing particles or French roaring that you then trade more with countries where you feel that you are great. But it's also very important that you don't lose the baby with the bathwater because this globalization has led to a situation where never seen so much poverty being eradicated. In 1994, 2% of the global population lived in extreme poverty. Today it's 10% and we'll continue to watch for more developments out of Riyadh.
