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.
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The government of Bangladesh has ordered tax and customs officials to immediately end a two-day nationwide strike that has paralysed tax operations, including customs services at the country’s key trade gateway, Chittagong Port.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has accused French President Macron and German Chancellor Merz of losing common sense over their stance on Russia, also calling Kyiv a "Nazi regime".
Ukraine and several Baltic and Nordic states are withdrawing from the Ottawa Convention banning anti-personnel mines, citing security threats from Russia.
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Israel has told residents in northern Gaza to evacuate ahead of intensified military action, as U.S. President Donald Trump says a ceasefire deal with Hamas is being negotiated.
Russian courts have imposed detention measures on six Azerbaijanis in Yekaterinburg in connection with a case dating back to the early 2000s, amid reports of injuries and allegations of coerced confessions.
The government of Bangladesh has ordered tax and customs officials to immediately end a two-day nationwide strike that has paralysed tax operations, including customs services at the country’s key trade gateway, Chittagong Port.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has accused French President Macron and German Chancellor Merz of losing common sense over their stance on Russia, also calling Kyiv a "Nazi regime".
Ukraine and several Baltic and Nordic states are withdrawing from the Ottawa Convention banning anti-personnel mines, citing security threats from Russia.
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