"The situation in Gaza is horrific, and I believe there will be a ceasefire within the next week," Trump said during a White House press conference. He noted that he receives frequent questions about the ceasefire in Gaza and that he had just spoken with some of the people involved in the matter.
"We are working on Gaza, and we are trying to take care of this," the US president told reporters.
In this context, an Israeli political source announced on Friday that Tel Aviv is prepared to engage in new talks regarding the Gaza Strip and the exchange deal, provided they are based on a proposal by US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff.
This came in statements made by an anonymous source to the official Israeli Broadcasting Corporation, following Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's chairing of a small security meeting on Friday evening to discuss developments in the war on Gaza and the prisoner exchange negotiations.
Without revealing the outcome of the meeting, the committee stated that Netanyahu had decided to hold an additional meeting next Sunday to discuss the same matter. The committee's political source said, "We are prepared to engage in talks provided they are based on Witkoff's proposal," without providing further details.
Last May, Witkov proposed to Hamas that it release half of the living Israeli captives and half of the bodies of those killed within seven days of the agreement's entry into force, in exchange for a 60-day truce.
During the truce period, indirect negotiations will be conducted in earnest and good faith, with the aim of reaching a permanent ceasefire.
Tel Aviv estimates that there are 50 Israeli detainees in Gaza, 20 of whom are still alive. Meanwhile, more than 10,400 Palestinian prisoners languish in its prisons, suffering from torture, starvation, and medical neglect, many of whom have died, according to Palestinian and Israeli human rights and media reports.
At the time, Hamas submitted its response to the mediators regarding the proposal, explaining that it "achieves three main goals: a permanent ceasefire, a comprehensive withdrawal from Gaza, and ensuring the entry of humanitarian aid to the population of the Strip," without specifying its content.
Hamas has repeatedly affirmed its willingness to release the Israeli captives "in one batch" in exchange for an end to the war of extermination, the withdrawal of the Israeli occupation forces from Gaza, and the release of Palestinian prisoners.
But Netanyahu, who is wanted by international justice, insists on partial deals and evades them by proposing new conditions, including the disarmament of Palestinian factions. He is currently insisting on reoccupying Gaza to further his personal political interests, particularly his continued rule, according to the Israeli opposition.
With full American support, Israel has been committing genocidal crimes in Gaza since October 7, 2023, leaving approximately 189,000 Palestinians dead or wounded, most of them children and women, more than 11,000 missing, and hundreds of thousands displaced.
