President Trump was expected to chair a meeting on Wednesday focusing on plans for postwar Gaza, according to his Middle East envoy, as the United States and Israel seek a comprehensive deal that would end the conflict and return all of the remaining Israeli hostages.
For nearly two years, international mediators have sought to pause the war in Gaza. They managed to achieve partial agreements that freed some hostages and briefly stopped the fighting in Gaza, but they did not ultimately end the war.
On Tuesday, Steve Witkoff, Mr. Trump’s Middle East envoy, appeared to rule out any piecemeal agreement that would bring home only some of the captives in exchange for a truce.
“We think we’re going to settle this one way or another, certainly before the end of this year,” Mr. Witkoff told Fox News in an interview.
The families of Israeli hostages have long called for a “full deal” to end the war in exchange for releasing the remaining hostages. But Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, has set exacting conditions for any such agreement that Hamas is unlikely to accept.
Here’s what to know about the latest efforts to reach a cease-fire.
How close are we to a cease-fire in Gaza?
Months of efforts to broker a truce by the United States, Qatar, and Egypt have stalled in recent weeks.
Israel is gearing up for a full-scale offensive to take over Gaza City, where hundreds of thousands of people are sheltering. Unless Hamas agrees to Israel’s terms, the Israeli military will launch the new military push in the coming weeks, Israeli officials say.
The war began nearly two years ago after a Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023 that killed roughly 1,200 people. The group also took about 250 hostages back to Gaza. Two short-lived cease-fires saw some Israeli hostages released in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.
But neither truce guaranteed an end to the war in Gaza. In January, Israel and Hamas agreed to a 60-day cease-fire, during which they would negotiate the terms for ending the war. But in March, with talks deadlocked, Israel resumed its military offensive.
More than 60,000 people have been killed in Gaza since Oct. 2023, and more than 10,000 have been killed since Israel ended the cease-fire, according to Palestinian health officials. Their data does not distinguish between civilians and combatants but includes thousands of children.
On what terms will Israel end the war?
Israeli leaders have vowed that they will not end the war until they destroy Hamas in Gaza. Any cease-fire that left the group in power or allowed it to rebuild its strength would be unacceptable, they said.
Hamas has refused to release all of the remaining hostages unless Israel ends the war and withdraws its forces, however, and Israeli officials have focused on temporary truces to bring home some of the captives.
Political analysts say that Mr. Netanyahu is concerned that ending the war would destabilize his right-wing coalition, which is stacked with hard-liners who hope to fully conquer Gaza and resettle it with Jewish Israelis. Mr. Netanyahu says he has acted in Israel’s national security interests.
But earlier this month, Mr. Netanyahu laid out Israel’s conditions for an end to the war: Hamas would have to lay down its arms and end its 18-year-rule in Gaza, where Israel would maintain “security control.” He did not say who would rule Gaza instead of Hamas but suggested Israel could hand over control to unnamed “Arab forces.”
While Hamas officials have said the group is willing to give up governing Gaza, they have repeatedly rejected Israeli demands to demilitarize.
What deal has Hamas agreed to?
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Last week, Hamas said it had broadly agreed to a cease-fire offer presented by Qatari and Egyptian mediators.
That deal would not guarantee an end to the war but would pause fighting for 60 days, during which Hamas would release about 10 living hostages and turn over the bodies of 18 others. During the cease-fire, Israel and Hamas would again try to negotiate terms to end the war.
But since Hamas signaled that it would agree to such a deal, the Israeli government has yet to publicly respond.
Mr. Netanyahu’s critics say he has moved the goal posts. When Hamas demanded a full agreement, he focused on a cease-fire. Now that Hamas has more or less accepted a U.S.-backed truce proposal, he says he is focusing on a comprehensive deal.
The families of Israeli hostages held in Gaza have called for an end to the war in exchange for freeing the hostages. But they have also urged the government to accept the partial agreement to get as many living captives out alive as possible.
Within Israeli’s government, Mr. Netanyahu’s right-wing coalition partners have pushed back against the cease-fire proposal accepted by Hamas. Itamar Ben-Gvir, the Israeli national security minister, rejected it and called for Israel to “go all the way and destroy Hamas” in Gaza.
Aaron Boxerman is a Times reporter covering Israel and Gaza. He is based in Jerusalem.
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