US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he hopes a Gaza ceasefire will be reached “sometime next week,” as the war between Israel and Hamas nears its 23rd month.
Trump had also told reporters three days ago that a deal would be reached “within the next week.”
The US president’s comments follow Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s announcement on Monday that he will visit Washington DC next week to meet with Trump.
The prime minister is set to take off for the US capital on Saturday and meet with Trump on Monday.
Trump said he and Netanyahu will discuss Gaza and “the great success we had with Iran,” adding: “We want to get the hostages back.”
Netanyahu said at a cabinet meeting on Monday that he will also meet with Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, US Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and senior lawmakers.
Hostage-ceasefire talks are being mediated by Witkoff, whose latest proposal, the authenticity of which was confirmed to The Times of Israel by two sources familiar with the negotiations, would see Hamas release 10 living Israeli hostages held in Gaza and return the bodies of 18 deceased hostages during a 60-day ceasefire. The rest of the hostages would be released if a permanent ceasefire is reached.
Hamas sources told the London-based Al-Sharq Al-Awsat that the group’s response to Witkoff’s deal proposal was generally positive, though with conditions.
A source directly involved in the negotiations told The Times of Israel that Hamas’s response included a demand that makes it more difficult for Israel to resume fighting if talks on a permanent ceasefire are not completed by the end of the 60-day truce.
The source said there were other changes the terror group wanted to make to the Witkoff proposal, adding that it would require a more drawn-out negotiation process.
The updated proposal submitted by Hamas envisions the release of the 10 hostages being more spread out throughout the truce, rather than in two batches on the first and seventh days, as the US offer envisioned.
The source said this change was aimed at preventing Netanyahu from abandoning talks on a permanent ceasefire after the hostages are released, or refusing to engage in them altogether, as he did during the previous ceasefire in January.
Netanyahu told hostages’ families in May that he approved of Witkoff’s proposal in principle.
Terror groups in the Gaza Strip are holding 50 hostages, including 49 of the 251 abducted by Hamas-led terrorists on October 7, 2023. They include the bodies of at least 28 confirmed dead by the IDF. Twenty are believed to be alive and there are grave concerns for the well-being of two others, Israeli officials have said. Hamas is also holding the body of an IDF soldier killed in Gaza in 2014.