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DANBALILTY—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during the opening of an exhibition showcasing the 1976Israeli commando rescue raid that freed hostages from a hijacked plane at Entebbe, Uganda, as he attends the event at the Yitzhak Rabin Center in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Thursday. ByJosefFederman The Associated Press JERUSALEM Israel on Thursday said that two of its citizens are being held captive in the Gaza Strip, an announcement that brought back bitter mem- ories of the case of an Is- raeli soldier who was cap- tured and imprisoned for five years by the Hamas mil- itant group. But circumstances have changed dramatically since Gilad Schalit's release in a 2011 prisoner swap, and the case announced Thursday could provide an important test of a new fragile detente that has emerged between Israel and Hamas since their devastating war last year. A relatively subdued reaction in Israel reflected the new reality, though Hamas is likely to push for a new round of prisoner re- leases by Israel before it re- turns the two men. Israeli defense officials identified one of the men as Avraham Mengistu, an Is- raeli of Ethiopian descent in his late 20s. According to COGAT, the defense body that handles civilian issues with the Pal- estinians, Mengistu disap- peared after he "indepen- dently" crossed the border fence and entered Gaza on Sept. 7, two weeks after the end of last year's war. It gave no further details on why he had crossed into Gaza, though Israeli media said he had been distraught at the time of his disappear- ance. COGAT said the second man was a Bedouin Arab citizen from southern Is- rael. It refused to identify him or say how long he had been in Gaza or how he got there. Officials also would not say which group had him in custody. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he held Hamas, which has ruled Gaza since seizing control of the territory in 2007, responsible for the fate of both men. Netan- yahu said Israel was work- ing to free them and that he had appointed a repre- sentative to deal with the matter. Amiddetentewith Hamas, Israel says 2 citizens held in Gaza MIDDLE EAST By Derek Gatopoulos and Raf Casert The Associated Press ATHENS, GREECE Greece finally met a deadline that counted on Thursday and made a series of sweeping proposals that its creditors needed by midnight to set off a mad rush toward a weekend deal to stave off a financial collapse of the nation. The package met long- standing demands by cred- itors to impose wide-rang- ing sales-tax hikes and cuts in state spending for pen- sions that the left-lean- ing Greek government had long resisted. It raised hopes that Greece can get the res- cue deal that will prevent a catastrophic exit from the euro after key credi- tors said they were open to discussing how to ease the country's debt load, a long- time sticking point in their talks. Newbailout In the text of proposals sent by Athens late Thurs- day, the government con- ceded to demands it had previously refused to ac- cept — mostly on moving various categories of goods and services to higher sales tax rates — in exchange for a new 53.5 billion-euro ($59 billion) bailout package. The government said the proposals would be voted on by Greece's parliament late Friday before an emer- gency summit Sunday of all 28 European Union leaders. After months of foot- dragging despite impend- ing chaos, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras met a midnight deadline with more than an hour to spare. The spokesman for eurogroup President Je- roen Dijsselbloem tweeted that it was "important for institutions to consider these (proposals) in their assessment" of the Greek situation. Finance officials from the European institutions and the International Mon- etary Fund were to fine- comb through the propos- als on Friday before the 19 eurozone finance minis- ters assess them on Satur- day.In ideal circumstances, a summit of the full Euro- pean Union would be able to approve them on Sunday. Earlier Thursday, Don- ald Tusk of Poland, who chairs the EU summits, in- dicated that European offi- cials would make an effort to address Greece's key re- quest for debt relief. "The realistic proposal from Greece will have to be matched by an equally real- istic proposal on debt sus- tainability from the credi- tors. Only then will we have a win-win situation," Tusk said. Greece has long argued its debt is too high to be paid back and that the country requires some form of debt relief. The International Monetary Fund agrees with the premise, but key Euro- pean states like Germany have resisted the idea. On Thursday, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said the possibil- ity of some kind of debt re- lief would be discussed over coming days, though he cautioned it may not provide much help. "The room for maneu- ver through debt reprofil- ing or restructuring is very small," he said. Interest rates Making Greece's debt more sustainable would likely involve lowering the interest rates and extend- ing the repayment dates on its bailout loans. Germany and many other European countries rule out an out- right debt cut, arguing it would be illegal under Eu- ropean treaties. Tsipras met with finance ministry officials and his cabinet throughout the day Thursday to finalize his country's plan, a day after his government requested a new three-year aid pro- gram from Europe's bail- out fund and promised to immediately enact reforms, including to taxes and pen- sions, in return. The last-minute maneu- vers come as Greece's finan- cial system teeters on the brink of collapse. It has im- posed restrictions on bank- ing transactions since June 29, limiting cash withdraw- als to 60 euros ($67) per day to stanch a bank run. Banks and the stock market have been shut for just as long. The closures, which have been extended through Monday, have led to daily lines at ATM machines and have hammered busi- nesses. Payments abroad have been banned without special permission. "Can you see anybody in the shop? Nobody's coming in, because everyone's liv- ing off a drip," said Magda Petridi, a fortune teller who runs a shop selling good luck charms, aromatic oils and trinkets. "Until a month ago business was going pretty well." CASH CRISIS Greek government offers series of sweeping proposals to creditors EMILIO MORENATTI — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS A demonstrator waves a European Union flag in front of the Greek Parliament during a rally in Athens on Thursday. AdvertiserBenefits: •OneFREEenhancedBoldlistingforcontractoradvertisersover1/4page, including up to 18 words of descriptive copy, in addition to basic listing information. Publishing the business name, license number and telephone number of all Tehama County building and related contractors in good standing with the State of California, listed by primary professional specialty. 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