President Donald Trump says a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas could potentially be reached within the next week, as U.S. mediation efforts intensify.
President Donald Trump said on Friday that a ceasefire agreement to end the conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza could potentially be achieved “within the next week.”
Speaking to reporters during an Oval Office event marking a Congo-Rwanda accord, Trump said he had spoken with people involved in the mediation efforts.
“I think it’s close, I just spoke with some of the people involved, and it’s a terrible situation that’s going on in Gaza,” Trump said. “We think within the next week, we’re going to get a cease-fire.”
The Trump administration has been working to secure a cessation of hostilities between Israel and Hamas, who have been in conflict since October 7, 2023, when Hamas launched a large-scale attack on southern Israel, prompting Israeli retaliatory operations in Gaza.
On May 31, Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, urged Hamas to accept a proposed framework as the basis for proximity talks. He said the deal could pave the way for a 60-day pause in fighting and the release of hostages.
“That is the only way we can close a 60-day ceasefire deal in the coming days in which half of the living hostages and half of those who are deceased will come home to their families and in which we can have at the proximity talks substantive negotiations in good faith to try to reach a permanent ceasefire,” Witkoff said in a statement.
The proposal would see Hamas release 10 living Israeli hostages and the remains of 18 deceased hostages. In return, Israel would release 125 prisoners serving life sentences and 1,111 Palestinian detainees arrested after the October 7 attack.
Israel has approved the U.S. proposal. Hamas, however, responded with a counterproposal seeking a permanent ceasefire, a complete Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, and unimpeded humanitarian aid access. The group said it would release 10 living hostages and the remains of 18 more in exchange for “an agreed-upon number of Palestinian prisoners.”
Witkoff called Hamas’s response “totally unacceptable” and said it “only takes us backward.”
The proposed deal follows a previous six-week truce that ended in March. Since then, Israel has resumed airstrikes against Hamas targets in Gaza and tightened restrictions on aid deliveries, accusing Hamas of stealing supplies.
U.S. President Donald Trump has expressed his readiness to meet with North Korea's Kim Jung Un during his upcoming visit to Asia....
Russian missile and drone strikes have intensified across Ukraine, killing one person and injuring ten in Kyiv, as speculation grows over a postponed ...
In an exclusive interview with AnewZ during Azerbaijan Arbitration Days 2025, President Emeritus of the European Council Charles Michel said internati...
Thailand’s Queen Mother Sirikit, a global style icon and patron of Thai silk who helped revive the monarchy’s standing after World War II and late...
The U.S. allegedly carried out its first night strike of a regional counter-drug campaign in the Caribbean, killing six suspected "narco-terrorists" o...
The European Union will agree in principle to provide Ukraine with the financing it needs for the next two years, EU Council chief Antonio Costa said.
The Kremlin on Friday confirmed that a meeting in Hungary between Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump could take place within the next two weeks.
The U.S. has authorised covert CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) operations in Venezuela, intensifying pressure on President Nicolas Maduro’s government.
Budapest's foreign minister has said that Hungary would suffer if it was cut off from Russian energy. He also reiterated that the country would not accept outside pressure when it came to decisions on its energy supplies.
At least 69 people have died and almost 150 injured following a powerful 6.9-magnitude earthquake off the coast of Cebu City in the central Visayas region of the Philippines, officials said, making it one of the country’s deadliest disasters this year.
A tsunami threat was issued in Chile after a magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck the Drake Passage on Friday. The epicenter was located 135 miles south of Puerto Williams on the north coast of Navarino Island.
The war in Ukraine has reached a strategic impasse, and it seems that the conflict will not be solved by military means. This creates a path toward one of two alternatives: either a “frozen” phase that can last indefinitely or a quest for a durable political regulation.
A shooting in Nice, southeastern France, left two people dead and five injured on Friday, authorities said.
Snapchat will start charging users who store more than 5GB of photos and videos in its Memories feature, prompting backlash from long-time users.
U.S. President Donald Trump has expressed his readiness to meet with North Korea's Kim Jung Un during his upcoming visit to Asia.
Russian missile and drone strikes have intensified across Ukraine, killing one person and injuring ten in Kyiv, as speculation grows over a postponed Trump–Putin summit and the future of their stalled negotiations.
Thailand’s Queen Mother Sirikit, a global style icon and patron of Thai silk who helped revive the monarchy’s standing after World War II and later occasionally stepped into politics, has died aged 93, the Royal Household Bureau said on Saturday.
The U.S. allegedly carried out its first night strike of a regional counter-drug campaign in the Caribbean, killing six suspected "narco-terrorists" on a vessel linked to the Tren de Aragua gang, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro has condemned U.S. military operations against vessels in the Caribbean, which have resulted in dozens of deaths and heightened tensions in the region.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment