Trump calls for a ceasefire deal on the war in Gaza as signs of progress emerge

TEL AVIV — President Trump on Sunday urged progress in ceasefire talks in the 20-month war in Gaza, as Israel and Hamas appeared to move closer to an agreement.

A top advisor to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Ron Dermer, was set to travel to Washington this week for talks on a ceasefire, an Israeli official said, and plans were being made for Netanyahu to travel there in the coming weeks, a sign there may be movement on a deal. The official declined to discuss the visit’s focus and spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss plans that had not been finalized.

“MAKE THE DEAL IN GAZA. GET THE HOSTAGES BACK!!!” Trump wrote on social media early Sunday. Trump raised expectations Friday for a deal, saying there could be an agreement within the next week.

Trump has repeatedly called for Israel and Hamas to end the war in the Gaza Strip. An eight-week ceasefire was reached just as he took office in January, but Israel resumed the war in March after trying to get Hamas to accept new terms on next steps.

Some Palestinians greeted the possibility of a new truce with skepticism after watching the last ceasefire shattered.

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

Trump also reiterated his criticism of the legal case against Netanyahu, who is on trial on suspicion of corruption, calling it “a POLITICAL WITCH HUNT.”

In the post Saturday evening, Trump said the Netanyahu trial interfered with ceasefire talks.

Netanyahu “is right now in the process of negotiating a Deal with Hamas, which will include getting the Hostages back. How is it possible that the Prime Minister of Israel can be forced to sit in a Courtroom all day long, over NOTHING,” Trump wrote.

Last week, Trump called for the trial to be canceled. It was a dramatic interference by an ally in the domestic affairs of a sovereign state. It unnerved many in Israel, despite Trump’s popularity there.

Trump’s defense of Netanyahu against criminal charges echoed the “witch hunt” claims he made in his own defense in criminal and civil cases brought against him in recent years, one of which resulted in a felony conviction.

The trial has repeatedly been postponed at Netanyahu’s request, citing security and diplomatic developments. On Sunday, the court agreed to call off two more days of testimony by him scheduled this 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.

Hamas official Mahmoud Merdawi accused Netanyahu of stalling progress on a deal, saying on social media that the Israeli leader insists on a temporary agreement that would free just 10 of the hostages. About 50 hostages remain, with fewer than half believed to be alive.

Netanyahu spokesperson Omer Dostri said, “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. Israel rejects that offer, saying it will agree to end the war if Hamas surrenders, disarms and goes into exile, something the group refuses.

The war in Gaza began with the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack in which militants killed 1,200 people and took 251 hostage.

Gaza’s Health Ministry on Sunday said 88 more people had been killed by Israeli fire over the last 24 hours, raising the war’s toll among Palestinians to 56,500. The ministry, which operates under the Hamas government, does not distinguish between militants and civilians in its count but says more than half of the dead are women and children.

The war has displaced most of Gaza’s population, often multiple times, obliterated much of the territory’s urban landscape and left people overwhelmingly reliant on outside aid, which Israel has severely limited since the end of the latest ceasefire.

Fewer than half of Gaza’s hospitals are even partly functional, and more than 4,000 children need medical evacuation abroad, a new United Nations humanitarian assessment says.

“We are exhausted, we are tired. We hope to God that the war will end,” said one Palestinian, Mahmoud Wadi.

The Israeli military ordered a mass evacuation of Palestinians in large swaths of northern Gaza, home to hundreds of thousands of people who had returned during the ceasefire earlier this year.

Col. Avichay Adraee, a military spokesperson, posted the order on social media. It includes multiple neighborhoods in eastern and northern Gaza City, as well as the Jabaliya refugee camp.

The military will expand its escalating attacks westward to the city’s center, calling for people to move toward the Muwasi area in southern Gaza, Adraee said.

An Israeli military offensive aims to move Palestinians to southern Gaza so forces can more freely operate to combat militants. Rights groups say their movement would amount to forcible displacement.

Goldenberg, Magdy and Shurafa write for the Associated Press and reported from Tel Aviv, Cairo and Deir al Balah, Gaza Strip, respectively.