TALKS
US President Donald Trump met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this week to discuss Gaza amid reports Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas were nearing agreement on a US-brokered ceasefire proposal after 21 months of war.
The Israeli official who was in Washington with Netanyahu said that if the two sides agree to the ceasefire proposal, Israel would use that time to offer a permanent truce requiring Hamas to disarm.
If Hamas refuses, “we’ll proceed” with military operations in Gaza, the official said on condition of anonymity.
A Palestinian official said the talks in Qatar were in crisis and that issues under dispute, including whether Israel would continue to occupy parts of Gaza after a ceasefire, had yet to be resolved.
The two sides previously agreed a ceasefire in January but it did not lead to a deal on a permanent truce and Israel resumed its military assault in March, stopping all aid supplies into Gaza and telling civilians to leave the north of the tiny territory.
Israel’s military campaign in Gaza has now killed more than 57,000 people, according to Palestinian health authorities. It has destroyed swathes of the territory and driven most Gazans from their homes.
The Hamas attack on Israeli border communities that triggered the war killed around 1,200 people and the militant group seized around 250 hostages according to Israeli tallies.
