Gaza Ceasefire Deal

In what could be a significant development in the Middle East, President Trump has confirmed that Israel has agreed the necessary conditions for a 60-day ceasefire in Gaza just days before Benjamin Netanyahu is due to visit Washington.

In a message on his Truth Social account, Mr. Trump said, “We will work with all parties to end the war. 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.” Hamas has yet to respond to the proposed deal and it remains unclear whether the militant group will agree to the conditions.

Previous attempts to broker a ceasefire have been rejected. I asked our North America correspondent Arunade Mukajji if there were any additional details about the terms of this potential deal.

What these necessary conditions are that Israel has agreed to is something that we still don’t have details about and whether these same necessary conditions will be acceptable to Hamas is going to be critical for this deal to actually work and hold and be a success. As you pointed out in the past also there have been attempts several attempts but they have fallen through at the last moment many times.

So, this time however things are different in the sense that there is considerable pressure with Donald Trump really wanting to get this deal done. In fact, as that message on Truth Social he said that things are only going to get worse.

What is also important to understand is that the statement is coming just less than a week till Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will be meeting President Donald Trump on Monday here in Washington DC. President Trump made it very clear that he’s going to be very stern and strict about the situation there in the Middle East.

So, it remains to be seen how this really plays out. But Donald Trump also highlighting the fact that the mediators that is Egypt as well as Qatar will be delivering this message and they really hope that Hamas takes this because as he said himself that this is the only option things could get worse.

D Mukai in Washington. And let’s talk to our correspondent Wura Davis who’s in Jerusalem. And Wura, what if anything has Israel said about this possible deal and what might be in it?

Well, there’s little news coming out of Israel itself this morning, but Israel’s chief negotiator Ron Durn has been in the United States this week and he will have been hammering this out with American officials.

Now, of course, Donald Trump has been putting pressure on all sides, even his close friends, the Israelis, to end the fighting and come up with a ceasefire. But the devil will really be in the detail.

What most Israelis will be looking at is how many of the remaining hostages, about 23 of them, are still thought to be alive. How many of those would be released under a 60-day ceasefire agreement?

Hamas’s negotiators when they get to see the deal, the key thing for them will be whether a 60-day ceasefire translates into a long-term peace agreement. They don’t want a return to fighting after 60 days.

And also, whether it includes as well at the very least a partial withdrawal of Israeli troops from parts of Gaza.

And finally, perhaps from a more international perspective, it’s the allowing of unfettered aid in not through the controversial Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, that American run organization that has been much criticized, but that would allow the UN, the World Health Organization, the World Food Program, all of those people to take aid in, as was the case under the last ceasefire.

So, a lot of details there. But you know, as Donald Trump seems to have said, it’s a take it or leave it deal perhaps for Hamas. If they don’t agree to it, then one assumes the fighting will continue.

And Wura, there has been increased military action in Gaza by Israel. What is the latest on what it is doing?

Yeah, there’s news again of very intense overnight air strikes in Gaza. We haven’t got the exact details of where those have happened, but that’s part of a developing pattern this week.

The Israelis issued and are continuing to issue unprecedented evacuation orders for Palestinians, particularly in the east of Gaza City, to move to so-called safe zones.

But the reality is that nowhere in Gaza is safe. Say the UN and say Palestinian officials, many of the so-called safe zones have been targeted themselves.

So, people are being told to move from parts of Gaza City to the west and those areas continue to come under Israeli air strikes.

Wura, thank you very much. Wura Davis in Jerusalem.