According to Donald Trump, Israel “agrees to the terms” for a sixty-day ceasefire in Gaza. The American president asks Hamas to agree to the “definitive proposal”. Trump hopes an agreement will be reached next week.
According to Trump, his representatives had a long and productive meeting with Israeli delegates on Tuesday. Israel would have indicated that it agrees to the conditions necessary for a two-month ceasefire. During that period, Trump wants to work “with all parties” to end the war.
The president calls on Hamas to agree to the deal. “I hope for the good of the Middle East that Hamas accepts this deal,” he writes on his platform Truth Social. “Because it’s not going to get any better. It’s only going to get worse.” Trump wrote that last sentence entirely in capital letters.
Trump told reporters he hopes an agreement can be reached next week. Then Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will visit the US. Trump said he would be strict with Netanyahu, but that the Israeli Prime Minister himself also wants a ceasefire.
Negotiations keep getting stuck on the same points
The question is whether a ceasefire will actually come after Trump’s statements. There was frequent talk about a ceasefire in recent months, with sometimes Hamas and sometimes Israel seeming to agree.
But it always got stuck on the same points. Israel wants Hamas to give up leadership over Gaza and cease to exist. Hamas wants all Israeli troops to withdraw.
From mid-January to mid-March, a ceasefire was in effect in Gaza. After that, Israeli attacks increased. It also started with a blockade of the area, causing a huge shortage of food, fuel and medicine.
Dozens of deaths are still reported every day in Gaza due to Israeli attacks. Last week, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that Israeli soldiers in Gaza would regularly be ordered to open fire around GHF food points.