Tel Aviv, Israel (AP) – American president Donald Trump Progress on Sunday urged the cease-fire talks in the 20 months War in GazaAs Israel and Hamas seemed to get closer to an agreement.
Ron Dermer, one of the Prime Minister’s main advisers Benjamin Netanyahuwas to go to Washington this week for talks on a ceasefire, said an Israeli official, and plans were made for Netanyahu to travel in the coming weeks, a sign that there could be a movement on an agreement.
Netanyahu met his security firm on Sunday evening, said the manager on condition of anonymity to discuss the plans that had not been finalized.
“Agree in Gaza. Get the hostages back !!!” Trump wrote on social networks early on Sunday. Trump increased expectations on Friday for an agreement, saying that there could be an agreement in next week.
Trump has repeatedly called on Israel and Hamas to end war. An eight-week ceasefire was reached when he took office earlier this year, but Israel has regained war in March After trying to bring Hamas to accept new terms on the next steps.
Some Palestinians praised the possibility of a new truce with skepticism after looking at the last broken ceasefire.
“Since the start of the war, they have promised us something like this: release the hostages and we will stop the war,” said Abdel Hadi al-Hour. “They did not stop war.”
Trump Slams Netanyahu
Trump also doubled his criticism of the legal proceedings against Netanyahu, who is in trials for an alleged corruptionThe appellant “a political witch hunt”.
In the position on Saturday evening, Trump said that the trial had interfered with cease-fire talks, saying that Netanyahu “was currently negotiating an agreement with Hamas, which will include the recovery of the hostages.”
Last week, Trump called for the cancellation of the trial. It was a dramatic interference of an ally in the internal affairs of a sovereign state. He Much annoyed in IsraelDespite Trump’s popularity there.
The trial has been postponed several times to Netanyahu’s request, citing security and diplomatic developments. On Sunday, the court agreed to cancel two other days of testimony by him scheduled for this week.
Major snack
The talks between Israel and Hamas have failed several times on a major collage point-if the war should end in the context of any cease-fire agreement.
The head of Hamas, Mahmoud Merdawi, accused Netanyahu of blocking progress in an agreement, affirming on social networks that the Israeli chief insists on a temporary agreement which would only release 10 of the hostages. About 50 hostages remain, with less than half that would be alive.
Netanyahu’s spokesman Omer Dostri said that “Hamas was the only obstacle at the end of the war,” without responding to Merdawi’s complaint.
During a visit Sunday to the internal security service of Israel, Shin Bet, Netanyahu said that The Israel-Iran war and the following cease-fire have opened many opportunities: “First of all, to save the hostages. Of course, we will also have to solve the Gaza problem, to defeat Hamas, but I believe that we will perform the two tasks. ”
Hamas says it is ready to release all hostages in exchange for a complete withdrawal of Israeli troops and the end of the war in Gaza. Israel rejects this offer, saying that he will agree to end the war if Hamas goes, disarms and comes into exile, something that the group refuses.
The war in Gaza began with the attack led by Hamas against southern Israel on October 7, 2023, in which activists killed 1,200 people and took around 250 hostages.
Sunday, the Gaza Ministry of Health said that 88 other people had been killed by Israeli fire in the past 24 hours, which has increased the results of the war among the Palestinians at 56,500. The ministry, which operates under the government of Hamas, does not distinguish between activists and civilians in its count, but says that more than half of the dead are women and children.
The war has moved most of the population of Gaza, often several times, erased a large part of the urban landscape of the territory and left people who are massively dependent on external aid, which Israel has limited since the end of the last cease-fire.
Less than half of Gaza hospitals are even partly functional, and more than 4,000 children need medical evacuation abroad, according to a new United Nations humanitarian assessment.
“We are exhausted, we are tired. We hope to God will end,” said a Palestinian wadi, Mahmoud.
New Gaza evacuations ordered
The Israeli army ordered a massive evacuation of the Palestinians in large bands of Northern Gaza, which houses hundreds of thousands of people who had returned during the ceasefire earlier this year.
Colonel Avichay Adraee, military spokesperson, published the order on social networks. It includes several districts in the east and northern Gaza City, as well as the Jabaliya refugee camp.
The army will extend its growing attacks to the west towards the center of the city, calling on people to head to the Muwasi region in southern Gaza, said Adraee.
An Israeli military offensive aims to move the Palestinians south of Gaza, so that the forces can operate more freely to combat activists. The rights defense groups claim that their movement would constitute forced displacement.
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Samy Magdy reported to Cairo and Wafaa Shurafa de Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip.
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