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US President Donald Trump expressed optimism on Wednesday that progress was underway to end the conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, as a fresh push for a ceasefire gained momentum nearly two years after the war began.
“I believe significant progress is being made on Gaza,” Trump told reporters, noting that his special envoy Steve Witkoff had informed him: “Gaza is very close.”
Trump linked his hopeful remarks to a ceasefire agreement announced on Tuesday between Israel and Iran, aimed at ending the 12-day hostilities.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces mounting pressure from opposition politicians, families of hostages held in Gaza, and members of his own coalition to bring the fighting to a close following Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack.
Qatar, a key mediator, announced on Tuesday a renewed effort to broker a ceasefire, with Hamas confirming on Wednesday that talks had intensified.
“Our communications with the brother mediators in Egypt and Qatar have continued and even intensified in recent hours,” Hamas official Taher al-Nunu told AFP. However, he cautioned that no new ceasefire proposals had yet been received.
The Israeli government declined to comment on new negotiations but confirmed ongoing efforts to secure the release of Israeli hostages both militarily and through talks.
Israel launched its bombardment in Gaza following the October 2023 Hamas attack, which reportedly killed 1,219 people, according to Israeli figures. In Gaza, Israel’s relentless strikes have killed at least 56,156 people, largely women and children, based on credible figures from Gaza’s health ministry.
On Tuesday, seven Israeli soldiers died in one of the deadliest incidents for the Israeli army in Gaza since the Israeli killings began, raising rare criticism from within Netanyahu’s coalition. Moshe Gafni, leader of the ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism party, questioned the ongoing campaign.
“I still don’t understand why we are fighting there… Soldiers are dying all the time,” Gafni said during a parliamentary hearing on Wednesday.
The soldiers, part of the combat engineering corps, were killed by an explosive device while on a reconnaissance mission in Khan Yunis, according to the Israeli military.
At the funeral of 20-year-old Staff Sergeant Ronel Ben-Moshe, mourners expressed the heavy toll the conflict is taking on soldiers. The Hostages and Missing Families Forum, representing relatives of captives held in Gaza, also called for an end to the conflict.
Of the 251 hostages taken by Hamas militants during the initial attack, 49 remain captive, including 27 whom the Israeli military believes are deceased.
Human rights groups warn that Gaza’s population of over two million faces conditions akin to famine, caused by Israeli restrictions that have led to near-daily deaths among those queuing for food aid.
Gaza’s civil defence agency reported on Wednesday that Israeli fire killed 35 people, including six waiting for aid supplies.
The United Nations condemned the “weaponisation of food” in Gaza, criticising the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a new aid organisation backed by the US and Israel which replaced older humanitarian groups at the end of May. The GHF’s operations have been plagued by chaos and concerns over neutrality.
The Gaza health ministry reports that nearly 550 people have been killed near aid centres since late May while trying to access scarce supplies.
