U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday urged progress toward a cease-fire in Gaza, calling for an agreement to end the 20-month conflict as Israel and Hamas showed signs of nearing a deal.
A top adviser to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Cabinet Minister Ron Dermer, was set to travel to Washington this week for talks on a cease-fire, an Israeli official said.
The official said plans also were being made for Netanyahu to travel to Washington in the coming weeks, a sign there may be movement on a new deal. The official declined to discuss the focus of the visit and spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss plans that had not yet been finalized.
"MAKE THE DEAL IN GAZA. GET THE HOSTAGES BACK!!!" Trump wrote on his social media platform, Truth Social, early Sunday, between posts about a Senate vote on his tax and spending cuts bill.
Trump raised expectations Friday for a deal, saying there could be a cease-fire agreement within the next week. Taking questions from reporters, he said, "We’re working on Gaza and trying to get it taken care of."
Trump has repeatedly called for Israel and Hamas to end the war. Despite an eight-week cease-fire reached just as Trump took office earlier this year, attempts since then to bring the sides toward a new agreement have failed.
The Gaza message wasn't the only Middle East-related post by Trump. On Saturday evening, he doubled down on his criticism of the legal proceedings against Netanyahu, who is on trial for alleged corruption, calling it "a POLITICAL WITCH HUNT, very similar to the Witch Hunt that I was forced to endure."
In a post on Truth Social, he said, the trial interfered with talks on a Gaza cease-fire.
"(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.
The post echoed similar remarks Trump made last week when he called for the trial to be canceled. It was a dramatic interference by an international ally in the domestic affairs of a sovereign state. And it unnerved many in Israel, despite Trump's popularity in the country.
The trial has been repeatedly postponed at Netanyahu's request, citing security and diplomatic developments. On Sunday, the court agreed to call off two more days of testimony by Netanyahu scheduled this week.
Talks between Israel and Hamas have repeatedly faltered over one major sticking point whether the war should end as part of any cease-fire agreement.
Hamas official Mahmoud Merdawi accused Netanyahu of stalling progress on a deal, saying in remarks on the Telegram messaging app that the Israeli leader insists on a temporary agreement that would free just 10 of the hostages.
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.
Israel's genocidal war on Gaza was triggered by the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas incursion, which caused 1,200 deaths and took roughly 250 hostage, about 50 of whom remain captive with less than half believed to be alive.
Gaza's Health Ministry on Sunday said an additional 88 people were killed by Israeli fire over the past 24 hours, raising the death toll to 56,500 in over 20 months of fighting.
The war has set off a humanitarian catastrophe, displaced most of Gaza's population, often multiple times, and obliterated much of the territory's urban landscape.
The Israeli military on Sunday also ordered a mass evacuation of Palestinians in large swaths of northern Gaza, an early target of the war that has been severely damaged by multiple rounds of fighting.
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 to the city’s northern section, calling for people to move southward to the Muwasi area in southern Gaza, Adraee said.
After being all but emptied earlier in the war, hundreds of thousands of people are in northern Gaza following their return during a cease-fire earlier this year.
An Israeli military offensive currently underway aims to move Palestinians to southern Gaza so forces can more freely operate to combat resistance groups. Rights groups say their movement would amount to forcible displacement.
