Thousands of Palestinians head northwest of Gaza City to receive food aid in mid-June. Photo / Saher Alghorra, The New York Times
For months, the Israeli Government had focused on negotiating a two-phased deal for a 60-day ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and the release of some hostages, leaving discussions about a permanent end to the war for a later stage.
With the talks now at an impasse, United States and Israeli officials appear to be sharply changing their tone by signalling that they will push for a comprehensive deal.
Israel and Hamas remain far apart, and analysts said this new approach would also face steep challenges.
The shift, at least in rhetoric, comes as the Israeli Government faces rising domestic pressure to secure the release of hostages still held in Gaza.
Israel believes that about 20 are still alive and that the bodies of 30 others remain in the enclave.
Videos released over the weekend showed two living captives looking emaciated and frail, shocking many Israelis and sparking fear among the hostages’ families.
The Israeli Government has also come under mounting international criticism over the mass hunger that has spread through Gaza’s population of about two million people after Israel imposed strict restrictions in recent months on the entry of aid.
Israel has continued to launch military strikes on Gaza, even as it has facilitated the entry of more aid into Gaza in recent days.
The Palestine Red Crescent Society said today that Israeli artillery had hit its offices in Khan Younis, killing one of the aid group’s staffers and injuring others. The Israeli military did not immediately comment.
Steve Witkoff, the Trump Administration’s special envoy to the Middle East, who is visiting the region, met families of Israeli hostages yesterday and told them that US President Donald Trump now wants to see all the living hostages released at once.
“No piecemeal deals, that doesn’t work,” he said, according to an audio recording of part of the meeting published by the Ynet Hebrew news site.
“Now we think that we have to shift this negotiation to ‘all or nothing’ — everybody comes home,” he said.
“We have a plan around it,” he added, without elaborating. A participant in the meeting confirmed that Witkoff made such remarks.
Israel and Hamas do not negotiate directly. Instead, negotiations for a ceasefire between the two sides have run through intermediaries: the United States, Qatar and Egypt.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel and Trump are said to be working on a new proposal that would involve presenting Hamas with an ultimatum, according to reports in the Israeli news media that were confirmed today by a person familiar with the matter. The White House was not immediately available for comment.
Under the terms of the ultimatum, Hamas would have to release the remaining hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners and agree to terms to end the war that include the group’s disarmament. Otherwise, the Israeli military would continue its campaign.
Mahmoud Mardawi, a Hamas official, said the Palestinian armed group had yet to receive a formal Israeli proposal for a comprehensive deal from Arab mediators.
He said that while Hamas supported such an agreement in principle, it would not disarm — which has long been a core Israeli condition.
“This has been our demand from the beginning: an end to the war, the release of prisoners, and day-after arrangements in the Gaza Strip — a clear and comprehensive deal,” Mardawi said in a phone interview.
The prospects of any rapid advancement towards such a deal appear dim.
Hamas has consistently rejected Israel’s terms for ending the war throughout the negotiations.
Yesterday, the group said in a statement that it would not disarm unless a Palestinian state was established, despite a call from Arab states last week for the group to do so.
The Israeli Government opposes Palestinian statehood.
Today, Itamar Ben-Gvir, the Israeli national security minister, visited the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, which Jews revere as the Temple Mount, long a tinderbox for Israeli-Palestinian tensions. Arab leaders denounced Ben-Gvir’s ascent to the site — during which he openly prayed — as a provocation.
“It’s important to convey from this place that we should immediately conquer Gaza, exercise our sovereignty there, and eliminate every last Hamas member,” Ben-Gvir said from the site, in a video shared by his office.
Many Israelis say they support a comprehensive deal to return all the hostages and end the war.
But many are sceptical that such a deal can be achieved under the conditions set by the hard-line Israeli Government, which has vowed to continue fighting until Hamas surrenders or is destroyed.
Netanyahu argued today that Hamas “does not want a deal” and vowed to press on in the attempt “to release our captive sons, eliminate Hamas, and ensure that Gaza no longer poses a threat to Israel”.
Given the firm positions of both sides, an Israeli and American push for a comprehensive deal may not bring an agreement closer, according to analysts.
“Hamas is essentially saying to Israel: ‘If you want the 20 living hostages out, give us a full victory,’” said Ehud Yaari, an Israel-based fellow of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, an independent research group.
Hamas’ terms are far beyond what Netanyahu would accept, Yaari said. But, he added, the Prime Minister “has to keep convincing the Israeli public and his own voters that he is doing everything he can, and he has to reassure the families of the hostages.”
Mardawi said that Hamas saw little reason to negotiate with Israel given the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza. “What is the point of talks when people are dying of starvation?” he said.
The hunger crisis worsened after Israel’s Government imposed severe restrictions on aid entering the territory.
Israel has accused aid agencies of mismanaging supplies and Hamas of diverting aid. But some Israeli military officials said the military never found proof that Hamas had systematically stolen aid from the United Nations, the biggest supplier of emergency assistance to Gaza for most of the war.
More than 60,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the war began, including thousands of children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.
The Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, which ignited the war, killed about 1200 people, according to the Israeli Government, and about 250 people were taken captive to Gaza.
More than 100 hostages were freed during previous ceasefires and Israeli forces operating in the enclave have retrieved the bodies of some others.
Ruby Chen, the father of American-Israeli soldier Itay Chen, who was abducted by Hamas, attended the meeting with Witkoff. Chen’s son is now presumed dead by Israeli authorities.
He said Witkoff had discussed the need for a comprehensive deal, rather than a partial deal.
“After six months, they’ve now come to the understanding that it’s not possible to execute it,” said Chen. “We lost six months on this.”
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
Written by: Isabel Kershner and Aaron Boxerman
Photograph by: Saher Alghorra
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