Netanyahu says Trump meeting could 'advance' Gaza deal ahead of Doha talks

JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday (Jul 6) that he hoped an upcoming meeting with US President Donald Trump could "help advance" a Gaza ceasefire deal, after sending negotiators to Doha for indirect talks with Hamas. 

Under mounting pressure to end the war, now approaching its 22nd month, the Israeli premier is scheduled to sit down on Monday with Trump, who has recently made a renewed push to end the fighting.

Speaking before boarding Israel's state jet bound for Washington, Netanyahu said: "We are working to achieve this deal that we have discussed, under the conditions that we have agreed to."

He added he had dispatched the team to Doha "with clear instructions", and thought the meeting with Trump "can definitely help advance this (deal), which we are all hoping for".

Netanyahu had previously said Hamas's response to a draft US-backed ceasefire proposal contained "unacceptable" demands.

Later Sunday, a Palestinian official familiar with the talks told AFP that indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas towards a ceasefire deal in the Gaza Strip had started in Qatar.

"Negotiations are about implementation mechanisms and hostage exchange, and positions are being exchanged through mediators," the official said.

"ENOUGH BLOOD"

Earlier Sunday, a Palestinian official told AFP that Hamas would also seek the reopening of Gaza's Rafah crossing to evacuate the wounded. Hamas's top negotiator Khalil al-Hayya was leading the delegation in Doha, the official told AFP.

Two Palestinian sources close to the discussions told AFP the proposal included a 60-day truce, during which Hamas would release 10 living hostages and several bodies in exchange for Palestinians detained by Israel.

However, they said, the group was also demanding certain conditions for Israel's withdrawal, guarantees against a resumption of fighting during negotiations, and the return of the UN-led aid distribution system.

On the ground, Gaza's civil defence agency reported 26 people were killed by Israeli forces on Sunday.

It said 10 were killed in a pre-dawn strike on Gaza City's Sheikh Radwan neighbourhood, where AFP images showed Palestinians searching through the debris for survivors with their bare hands.

"The rest of the family is still under the rubble," Sheikh Radwan resident Osama al-Hanawi told AFP.

"We are losing young people, families and children every day, and this must stop now. Enough blood has been shed."

Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties in accessing many areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify the tolls and details provided by the civil defence agency.

Contacted by AFP, the Israeli military said it could not comment on specific strikes without precise coordinates.

Since Hamas's October 2023 attack sparked the massive Israeli offensive in Gaza, mediators have brokered two temporary halts in the fighting during which hostages were freed in exchange for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli custody.

Of the 251 hostages taken by Palestinian militants during the 2023 attack, 49 are still being held in Gaza, including 27 the Israeli military says are dead.

Recent efforts to broker a new truce have repeatedly failed, with the primary point of contention being Israel's rejection of Hamas's demand for a lasting ceasefire.

"HUNGER AS A WEAPON"

The war has created dire humanitarian conditions for the more than two million people in the Gaza Strip.

Karima al-Ras, from Khan Yunis in southern Gaza, said "we hope that a truce will be announced" to allow in more aid.

"People are dying for flour," she said.

A US- and Israel-backed group, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, took the lead in food distribution in the territory in late May, when Israel partially lifted a more than two-month blockade on aid deliveries.

UN agencies and major aid groups have refused to cooperate with the GHF over concerns it was designed to cater to Israeli military objectives.

The UN human rights office said last week that more than 500 people have been killed waiting to access food from GHF distribution points.

The Gaza health ministry on Sunday placed the toll even higher, at 751 killed.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, a frequent critic of Israel, again accused it of committing "genocide" in Gaza at a meeting of the 11 BRICS emerging nations in Rio de Janeiro on Sunday.

"We cannot remain indifferent to the genocide carried out by Israel in Gaza, the indiscriminate killing of innocent civilians and the use of hunger as the Brazilian president, popularly known as Lula, told leaders from China, India and other nations.

Hamas's October 2023 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.

Israel's retaliatory campaign has killed at least 57,418 people in Gaza, also mostly civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory's health ministry. The United Nations considers the figures reliable.

Stephen Zunes, director of the Middle Eastern studies programme at the University of San Francisco, said a lasting Gaza ceasefire deal remains unlikely. 

"Obviously, both sides need to compromise," he told CNA's Asia First. 

"But we've seen time and time again, a situation where the US will rewrite the ceasefire proposal to meet Israeli demands, and then when the Palestinians demand going back to the original proposal, the US will say it's Hamas who's rejecting peace and not wanting to negotiate."

Zunes believes the upcoming meeting is "more of a propaganda exercise than anything else". 

"It is possible that Trump, knowing how bad this is hurting the US reputation by supporting Israel, given the ongoing atrocities, might try to pressure Netanyahu to compromise more," he added.

"But I've seen no indication so far that that's going to be the case."

Zunes noted that there have been notable instances in the past where US presidents pressured Israel to halt military actions by threatening to withhold aid. 

"So, the US does have the power to pressure Israel," he said. "But again, I've seen no indication that Trump has been willing to do that."