Trump calls on Israel to ‘make the deal in Gaza’ as Netanyahu set to visit Washington

Donald Trump has urged for progress in ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas as Benjamin Netanyahu looks set to travel to Washington DC.

Trump declared “MAKE THE DEAL IN GAZA. GET THE HOSTAGES BACK!!!” in a post on Truth Social on Sunday (29 June), after raising expectations on Friday that an agreement could be signed within the next week.

Plans are being made for Israeli prime minister Netanyahu to visit DC in the coming weeks, an Israeli official has told Associated Press, as one of his top advisors Ron Dermer travels to the U.S. this coming week for ceasefire talks.

“I want to inform you that as you probably know, many opportunities have opened up now following this victory, many opportunities,” Netanyahu said during a visit to a Shin Bet security facility on Sunday.

“First of all, to rescue the hostages. Of course we will also have to solve the Gaza issue, to defeat Hamas, but I estimate that we will achieve both tasks,” he said, according to a statement issued by his office.

Trump said on Saturday that Netanyahu was “right now” negotiating a deal with Hamas, though neither leader provided details, and officials on both sides have voiced scepticism over prospects for a ceasefire soon.

Some Palestinians remain doubtful of the latest efforts towards an end to Israel’s ground offensive on Gaza.

“Since the beginning of the war, they have been promising us something like this: Release the hostages and we will stop the war,” one Palestinian, Abdel Hadi Al-Hour, told AP. “They did not stop the war.”

The U.S. has proposed a 60-day ceasefire and a release of half the hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners and the remains of other Palestinians. Hamas would release the remaining hostages once a permanent ceasefire was in place.

An eight-week ceasefire was reached as Trump took office earlier this year, but Israel resumed its war in March after insisting they had tried to get Hamas to accept new terms on next steps, and blocked aid into the city.

Netanyahu’s potential visit to the U.S. would potentially come in spite of an arrest warrant against him by the International Criminal Court, alleging responsibility for the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare and the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts during the Gaza war.

ICC member states are required to arrest Netanyahu if he enters the state’s territory, but the United States has fundamentally rejected the warrants, issuing sanctions over the organisation in January this year.

At least 15 Palestinians were killed after an Israeli airstrike hit a house sheltering displaced people in the Jabaliya al-Nazla area, on Sunday Gaza’s Health Ministry said.

Israel’s military did not comment on the strike, but it fell into the region of a new mass evacuation order for parts of northern Gaza after health authorities reported 72 deaths in the city on Saturday.

Talks between Israel and Hamas have repeatedly faltered over whether the war should end as part of any ceasefire agreement, with Hamas official Mahmoud Merdawi accusing Netanyahu of stalling the progress on a deal.

Merdawi said on social media that Israel’s leader insists on a temporary agreement that would free just 10 of the hostages, where approximately 50 remain, with less than half believed to be alive.

Netanyahu spokesperson Omer Dostri said that “Hamas was the only obstacle to ending the war,” without addressing Merdawi’s claim.

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.