US President Donald Trump has called on Hamas to accept a proposed 60-day ceasefire in Gaza, stating that Israel has already agreed to the necessary terms, ahead of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s scheduled visit to Washington next week.
In a post on social media on Tuesday, Trump revealed that his representatives had recently held discussions with Israeli officials about the conflict in Gaza, which has intensified in recent days. “Israel has agreed to the necessary conditions to finalise the 60 Day ceasefire, during which time we will work with all parties to end the War,” Trump wrote.
He said that mediators from Qatar and Egypt would now present the “final proposal” to Hamas. “I hope, for the good of the Middle East, that Hamas takes this Deal, because it will not get better — It will only get worse,” Trump warned.
Speaking earlier in Florida, where he visited a migrant detention centre, Trump said he would take a “very firm” stance with Netanyahu when they meet on July 7. The end of the recent 12-day war between Israel and Iran—triggered by a US strike on Iranian nuclear sites—has reportedly created a new opening for a Gaza ceasefire deal, which Trump is eager to broker as part of his wider record of peace agreements.
Despite ceasefire efforts, Israeli military bombardments in Gaza continued on Tuesday. Gaza’s civil defence service reported that at least 26 people were killed in various Israeli strikes. The Israeli military said its forces had “expanded operations to additional areas within the Gaza Strip,” claiming to have eliminated “dozens of terrorists” and dismantled “hundreds of terror infrastructure sites.”
Raafat Halles, a resident of the Shujaiya district in Gaza City, said, “Air strikes and shelling have intensified over the past week. I believe that every time a truce is mentioned, the army escalates crimes and massacres. I don’t know why.”
Photographs from AFP journalists captured Israeli tanks positioned near the Gaza border, while others showed Palestinians mourning over relatives’ bodies at Al-Shifa and Al-Aqsa hospitals.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) expressed alarm over the escalating violence, stating that the remaining operational hospitals in Gaza are overwhelmed. “Nearly all public hospitals are either shut down or severely damaged due to months of conflict and supply restrictions,” the organisation said in a statement.
The civil defence agency said 16 people were killed near aid distribution points in central and southern Gaza on Tuesday, in another deadly incident involving civilians seeking food. Ten more fatalities were reported in separate Israeli operations.
Responding to the reports, the Israeli army claimed its forces had fired “warning shots” to deter individuals approaching troops and stated it was unaware of any injuries, though it said, as usual, that it would investigate.
Referring to an incident in Rafah, the military said the shots were fired “hundreds of metres” from an inactive aid site.
On Monday, a coalition of 169 humanitarian organisations criticised the new US- and Israeli-backed aid distribution scheme in Gaza, blaming it for increased civilian deaths. The groups called for a return to the UN-led aid mechanism that operated until March, when Israel imposed a complete blockade during a pause in truce negotiations.
The administrator of the new system, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), distanced itself from reports of civilian deaths near its distribution centres.
Netanyahu is set to travel to the United States next week for talks with Trump and senior US security officials amid growing international pressure to end the war and negotiate the release of remaining hostages held in Gaza.
Trump stated that Netanyahu “wants to end it too.”
Hamas official Taher al-Nunu told AFP the group is “ready to agree to any proposal that leads to a permanent ceasefire, a complete withdrawal of occupation forces, and an end to the war.” However, he added, “So far, there has been no breakthrough.”
