Washington, Jul 2: US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that Israel has agreed on terms for a 60-day ceasefire in Gaza and warned Hamas to accept the deal before conditions worsen.
Trump announced the development as he prepares to host Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for talks at the White House on Monday.
The US leader has been increasing pressure on the Israeli government and Hamas to broker a ceasefire and hostage agreement and bring about an end to the war in Gaza.
“My Representatives had a long and productive meeting with the Israelis today on Gaza. Israel has agreed to the necessary conditions to finalize the 60 Day CEASEFIRE, during which time we will work with all parties to end the War,” Trump wrote, saying the Qataris and Egyptians would deliver the final proposal.
“I hope, for the good of the Middle East, that Hamas takes this Deal, because it will not get better — IT WILL ONLY GET WORSE,” he said.
Trump’s promise that it was his best and final offer may find a skeptical audience with Hamas.
Even before the expiration of the war’s longest ceasefire in March, Trump has repeatedly issued dramatic ultimatums to pressure Hamas to agree to longer pauses in the fighting that would see the release of more hostages and a return of more aid to Gaza’s civilian populace.
Still, Trump views the current moment as a potential turning point in the brutal conflict that has left more than 56,000 dead in the Palestinian territory.
The Gaza Health Ministry does not differentiate between civilians and combatants in its death count.
Hamas is still capable of landing fatal blows to Israeli forces. But US officials believe the group’s been significantly diminished as its centralised command and control capabilities have deteriorated over the course of the nearly 21-month conflict.
Meanwhile, Hamas’ chief backer Iran was badly battered last month by 12 days of strikes by Israel and the United States on Tehran’s key nuclear facilities.
Israeli Minister for Strategic Affairs, Ron Dermer, was in Washington on Tuesday for talks with senior administration officials to discuss a potential Gaza ceasefire, Iran and other matters. Dermer was expected to meet with Vice President J D Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and special envoy Steve Witkoff.
Earlier Tuesday, Trump repeated his hope for forging an Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal next week.
Asked if it’s time to put pressure on Netanyahu to get a ceasefire deal done, Trump said the Israeli prime minister was ready to come to an agreement.
“He wants to,” Trump said of Netanyahu in an exchange with reporters while visiting a new immigration detention facility in Florida.
“I think we’ll have a deal next week.”
Talks between Israel and Hamas have repeatedly faltered over a major sticking point — whether the war should end as part of any ceasefire agreement.
About 50 hostages remain captive in Gaza, with less than half believed to be alive.
Hamas says it is willing to free all the hostages in exchange for a full withdrawal of Israeli troops and an end to the war in Gaza.
Israel rejects that offer, saying it will agree to end the war if Hamas surrenders, disarms and goes into exile, something that the group refuses.
The announcement by Trump came as over 150 international charities and humanitarian groups on Tuesday called for disbanding a controversial Israeli and US-backed system to distribute aid in Gaza because of chaos and deadly violence against Palestinians seeking food at its sites.
The joint statement by groups including Oxfam, Save the Children and Amnesty International followed the killings of at least 10 Palestinians who were seeking desperately needed food, witnesses and health officials said.
Meanwhile, Israeli airstrikes killed at least 37 in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis, according to Nasser Hospital.
“Tents, tents they are hitting with two missiles?” asked Um Seif Abu Leda, whose son was killed in the strikes. Mourners threw flowers on the body bags.
Before Trump’s announcement, Israel’s defence minister, Israel Katz, had warned that his country would respond forcefully to the firing of a missile the military said originated from Yemen.
Sirens sounded across parts of Israel, alerting residents to the attack and the launch of two projectiles from Gaza. All were intercepted by Israeli defense systems.
The missile launch marked the first attack by the Iran-backed Houthi rebels since the end of the 12-day war initiated by Israel with Iran.
Katz said Yemen could face the same fate as Tehran.
Nasruddin Amer, deputy head of the Houthi media office, vowed on social media that Yemen will not “stop its support for Gaza … unless the aggression stops and the siege on Gaza is lifted”.
Speaking to his Cabinet, Netanyahu did not elaborate on plans for his visit to Washington next week, except to say he will discuss a trade deal. Iran is also expected to be a main topic of discussion in Washington after Trump brokered a ceasefire between it and Israel.
