The Latest: Funeral begins for opera star Jessye Norman

The Latest on the public funeral for international opera star Jessye Norman (all times local):

1:10 p.m.

The funeral for international opera icon Jessye Norman has begun in Augusta, Georgia, where the star grew up.

Deanna Brown Thomas, daughter of singer James Brown, greets Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority members outside Mt. Calvary Baptist Church before going in for the viewing of opera star Jessye Norman in Augusta, Ga., Thursday, Oct. 10, 2019. (Michael HolahanThe Augusta Chronicle via AP)

A musical prelude began the ceremony Saturday in the William B. Bell Auditorium. Norman's family proceeded into the auditorium following the performance. The funeral is being livestreamed from Augusta.

Actor Laurence Fishburne, who is also from Augusta, will speak during the public service. Performers will include Wycliffe Gordon, J'Nai Bridges and students of Jessye Norman School of the Arts.

Norman died Sept. 30 at age 74. She was awarded the National Medal of Arts, the Kennedy Center Honor and four Grammy Awards.

This 1983 photo released by the Metropolitan Opera shows soprano Jessye Norman as Cassandre in Berlioz' "Les Troyens," the role of her Metropolitan Opera debut in New York. Norman died, Monday, Sept. 30, 2019, at Mount Sinai St. Luke’s Hospital in New York. She was 74. (Metropolitan Opera via AP)

1:10 a.m.

World-famous performers, civil rights leaders and people who know her good works are gathering in international opera star Jessye Norman's Georgia hometown for her funeral.

Norman will be laid to rest Saturday afternoon at the William B. Bell Auditorium in Augusta, Georgia, with a private burial to follow.

This 1995-1996 image released by the Metropolitan Opera shows soprano Jessye Norman as Emilia Marty in Janáček's "The Makropulos Case," in New York. Norman died, Monday, Sept. 30, 2019, at Mount Sinai St. Luke’s Hospital in New York. She was 74. (Erika DavidsonMetropolitan Opera via AP)

Actor Laurence Fishburne is expected to speak and musicians Wycliffe Gordon and J'Nai Bridges from the Metropolitan Opera will perform.

Norman's longtime friend and civil rights activist Vernon Jordan will talk about the singer's life at her family's church in Augusta, along with elders.

Norman died Sept. 30 at age 74. A trailblazing performer, she was one of the rare black singers to attain worldwide stardom in the opera world.

FILE - This Dec. 8, 2013 file photo shows Jessye Norman at the 2013 Kennedy Center Honors at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington. Norman died, Monday, Sept. 30, 2019, at Mount Sinai St. Luke’s Hospital in New York. She was 74. (Photo by Greg AllenInvisionAP, File)

FILE - This Dec. 5, 2010 file photo shows opera singer Jessye Norman at the Kennedy Center Honors in Washington. Norman died, Monday, Sept. 30, 2019, at Mount Sinai St. Luke’s Hospital in New York. She was 74. (AP PhotoJacquelyn Martin, File)

FILE - This Sept. 18, 2007 file photo shows soprano Jessye Norman performing during The Dream Concert at Radio City Music Hall in New York. Norman died, Monday, Sept. 30, 2019, at Mount Sinai St. Luke’s Hospital in New York. She was 74. (AP PhotoJason DeCrow, File)

Mourners walk into the visitation for international opera star Jessye Norman at Mt. Calvary Baptist Church in Augusta, Ga., on Friday, Oct. 11, 2019. Norman died on Sept. 30 at age 74. Norman’s passionate soprano voice won her four Grammy Awards, the National Medal of Arts and the Kennedy Center Honor. (AP PhotoJeffrey Collins)

Ladies from Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority line up outside Mt. Calvary Baptist Church for the viewing of opera star Jessye Norman in Augusta, Ga., Thursday, Oct. 10, 2019. (Michael HolahanThe Augusta Chronicle via AP)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Israel this week briefed Biden administration officials on a plan to evacuate Palestinian civilians ahead of a potential operation in the southern Gaza city of Rafah aimed at rooting out Hamas militants, according to U.S. officials familiar with the talks.

The officials, who were not authorized to comment publicly and requested anonymity to speak about the sensitive exchange, said that the plan detailed by the Israelis did not change the U.S. administration’s view that moving forward with an operation in Rafah would put too many innocent Palestinian civilians at risk.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to carry out a military operation in Rafah despite warnings from President Joe Biden and other western officials that doing so would result in more civilian deaths and worsen an already dire humanitarian crisis.

The Biden administration has said there could be consequences for Israel should it move forward with the operation without a credible plan to safeguard civilians.

“Absent such a plan, we can’t support a major military operation going into Rafah because the damage it would do is beyond what’s acceptable,” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said late Friday at the Sedona Forum, an event in Arizona hosted by the McCain Institute.

Some 1.5 million Palestinians have sheltered in the southern Gaza city as the territory has been ravaged by the war that began on Oct. 7 after Hamas militants attacked Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostages.

The United Nations humanitarian aid agency on Friday said that hundreds of thousands of people would be “at imminent risk of death” if Israel moves forward with the Rafah assault. The border city is a critical entry point for humanitarian aid and is filled with displaced Palestinians, many in densely packed tent camps.

The officials added that the evacuation plan that the Israelis briefed was not finalized and both sides agreed to keep discussing the matter.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters on Friday that no “comprehensive” plan for a potential Rafah operation has been revealed by the Israelis to the White House. The operation, however, has been discussed during recent calls between Biden and Netanyahu as well as during recent virtual talks with top Israeli and U.S. national security officials.

“We want to make sure that those conversations continue because it is important to protect those Palestinian lives — those innocent lives,” Jean-Pierre said.

The revelation of Israel's continued push to carry out a Rafah operation came as CIA director William Burns arrived Friday in Egypt, where negotiators are trying to seal a cease-fire accord between Israel and Hamas.

Hamas is considering the latest proposal for a cease-fire and hostage release put forward by U.S., Egyptian and Qatari mediators, who are looking to avert the Rafah operation.

They have publicly pressed Hamas to accept the terms of the deal that would lead to an extended cease-fire and an exchange of Israeli hostages taken captive on Oct. 7 and Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.

Hamas has said it will send a delegation to Cairo in the coming days for further discussions on the offer, though it has not specified when.

Israel, and its allies, have sought to increase pressure on Hamas on the hostage negotiation. Signaling that Israel continues to move forward with its planning for a Rafah operation could be a tactic to nudge the militants to finalize the deal.

Netanyahu said earlier this week that Israeli forces would enter Rafah, which Israel says is Hamas’ last stronghold, regardless of whether a truce-for-hostages deal is struck. His comments appeared to be meant to appease his nationalist governing partners, and it was not clear whether they would have any bearing on any emerging deal with Hamas.

Blinken visited the region, including Israel, this week and called the latest proposal “extraordinarily generous” and said “the time to act is now.”

In Arizona on Friday, Blinken repeated remarks he made earlier this week that "the only thing standing between the people of Gaza and a cease-fire is Hamas.”

The Chahine family prepares to bury two adults and five boys and girls under the age of 16 after an overnight Israeli strike in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, Friday, May 3, 2024. An Israeli strike on the city of Rafah on the southern edge of the Gaza Strip killed several people, including children, hospital officials said Friday. (AP Photo/Ismael Abu Dayyah)

FILE - Palestinians line up for free food during the ongoing Israeli air and ground offensive on the Gaza Strip in Rafah, Jan. 9, 2024. A top U.N. official said Friday, May 3, 2024, that hard-hit northern Gaza was now in “full-blown famine" after more than six months of war between Israel and Hamas and severe Israeli restrictions on food deliveries to the Palestinian territory. (AP Photo/Hatem Ali, File)

Palestinians rescue a woman survived after the Israeli bombardment on a residential building of Abu Alenan family in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, early Saturday, May 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Ismael Abu Dayyah)

President Joe Biden walks across the South Lawn of the White House as he talks with White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre Thursday, May 2, 2024, in Washington, after returning from a trip to North Carolina. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)