Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was sending a negotiating team to Qatar on Sunday, July 6, for talks on a truce in Gaza, but rejected Hamas’s earlier ceasefire proposals.
“The changes that Hamas is seeking to make in the Qatari proposal were conveyed to us last night and are unacceptable to Israel,” said a statement from his office. “In light of an assessment of the situation, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has directed that the invitation to proximity talks be accepted and that the contacts for the return of our hostages − on the basis of the Qatari proposal that Israel has agreed to − be continued,” the statement added. “The negotiating team will leave tomorrow [Sunday] for the talks in Qatar.”
Hamas announced late on Friday that it was ready to start talks “immediately” on a US-sponsored proposal for a Gaza ceasefire. Trump has been making a renewed push to end nearly 21 months of war in Gaza, where the civil defense agency said 35 people were killed in Israeli military operations on Saturday. The American president has vowed to be tough on Netanyahu as he hopes to use the momentum from the truce between Iran and Israel to secure a ceasefire in the devastated Palestinian territory, too.
Trump says Israel is committed to a 60-day halt in fighting and Hamas says it has responded positively to a US-backed proposal − but sealing a final deal to end the 21-month-old war will be easier said than done. Netanyahu, who is making his third visit to the White House since Trump returned to power in January, has vowed to crush Hamas before ending the conflict.
Yet Trump, determined to win the Nobel peace prize and riding a wave of recent foreign and domestic policy victories, is making a renewed push for a result. “There could be a Gaza deal next week,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Friday. He said he was “very optimistic” about a deal but added that “it changes from day to day. It’s been changing for years.”
Hamas ally Islamic Jihad said it supported ceasefire talks, but demanded guarantees that Israel “will not resume its aggression” once hostages held in Gaza are freed.
Nearly 21 months of war have created dire humanitarian conditions for the more than two million people in the Gaza Strip, where Israel has recently expanded its military operations. The military said in a statement it had been striking suspected Hamas targets across the territory, including around Gaza City in the North and Khan Yunis and Rafah in the South.
