JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump appeared on Friday (Jul 25) to abandon Gaza ceasefire negotiations with Palestinian militant group Hamas, a day after withdrawing their delegations from talks.
Netanyahu said Israel was now considering “alternative” options to achieve its goals of bringing its hostages home from Gaza and ending the rule of Hamas in the territory. Trump said Hamas did not want to make a deal and he believed the group’s leaders would now be “hunted down”.
“Hamas really didn’t want to make a deal. I think they want to die. And it’s very bad. And it got to be to a point where you’re going to have to finish the job,” Trump told reporters.
The remarks followed statements made overnight by US envoy Steve Witkoff, who said Hamas was to blame for an impasse at the ceasefire negotiations, mediated by Qatar and Egypt. Netanyahu said Witkoff had got it right, and that Hamas was the obstacle to a deal.
Hamas had given its response to a US-backed ceasefire proposal on Thursday, only for Israel to announce hours later that it was withdrawing its negotiators for consultations.
Sources initially said the Israeli move was not necessarily a sign of breakdown, but Netanyahu’s comments suggested Israel’s position had hardened.
Hamas has disputed Witkoff’s characterisation of the talks and said the negotiators were making progress. It said Witkoff’s remarks were aimed at applying pressure on Israel’s behalf ahead of a future next round of negotiations.
“What we have presented – with full awareness and understanding of the complexity of the situation – we believe could lead to a deal if the enemy had the will to reach one,” senior Hamas official Basem Naim wrote on Facebook.
Qatar and Egypt, the key mediators, said progress had been made and described suspensions as a normal part of the process. They said they remained committed to reaching a ceasefire with US support.
The ceasefire plan would suspend fighting for 60 days, allow more aid into Gaza, and free some of the 50 remaining hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. Talks have stalled over Israeli troop withdrawal terms and what happens if no long-term deal follows the truce.
FAR-RIGHT PRESSURE ON NETANYAHU
Far-right Israeli national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir praised Netanyahu’s stance and called for an end to aid deliveries, full military conquest of Gaza, and Jewish resettlement of the enclave.
“Total annihilation of Hamas, encourage emigration, (Jewish) settlement,” he wrote on X.
French President Emmanuel Macron responded to the worsening humanitarian situation by announcing France would become the first major Western power to formally recognise a Palestinian state.
Britain and Germany said they were not ready to do the same but joined France in calling for an immediate ceasefire.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said his government would only recognise Palestinian statehood as part of a negotiated peace agreement.
Trump dismissed Macron’s move, saying, “What he says doesn’t matter … I like him, but that statement doesn’t carry weight.”
