Trump calls for ceasefire in Gaza as Israeli military orders more evacuations
President Trump pleaded on Sunday for progress in ceasefire talks that would stop fighting in the 20 -month conflict in Gaza. The appeal to an agreement came while the Israeli army ordered a new massive evacuation in the north of Gaza in the midst of its growing attacks against the territory.
“Agree in Gaza. Get the hostages back !!!” Trump wrote early Sunday on his social media platform, Truth Social, between articles on a vote in the Senate on his bill on tax and expenses.
Mr. Trump raised expectations Friday when he told journalists at the oval office That there could be a cease-fire agreement in the next week.
“We work on Gaza and try to take care of it.”
Khames Alrefi / Anadolu via Getty Images 
A superior advisor to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Minister of the Cabinet, Ron Dermer, had to go to Washington this week for talks on a cease-fire, said an Israeli official.
The person in charge said that plans were also made so that Netanyahu went to Washington in the coming weeks, a sign that there could be a movement on a new agreement. The official refused to discuss the objective of the visit and maintained anonymously to discuss the plans that had not yet been finalized.
Trump has repeatedly called on Israel and Hamas to end the war of almost two years in the Gaza Strip. Despite an eight-week ceasefire reached when Mr. Trump took office in January, attempts to bring the parties to a new agreement failed, failing a major collage point: if the war should end in the context of any cease-fire agreement.
Mahmoud Merdawi, a Hamas official, accused Netanyahu of blocking progress in an agreement, saying that in remarks on the telegram messaging application that the Israeli leader insists on a temporary agreement which would only release 10 of the hostages.
Netanyahu’s spokesman Omer Dostri said: “Hamas was the only obstacle at the end of the war,” without responding to Merdawi’s complaint.
Abdalhkem Abu Riash / Anadolu via Getty Images 
Hamas says it is ready to release all hostages in exchange for a complete withdrawal of Israeli troops and the end of the war. Israel rejects this offer, saying that he will accept to end the war if Hamas goes, disarms and comes into exile, which the group refuses.
The war in Gaza began on October 7, 2023, when Hamas terrorists attacked Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking around 250 hostages, 50 of whom remain captive, with less than half that would be alive.
On Sunday, the Ministry of Health managed by Gaza said that 88 additional people had been killed by Israeli fire in the past 24 hours, which has increased the number of deaths to 56,500 in more than 20 months of fighting. The ministry does not distinguish between activists and civilians in their count, but says that more than half of the dead are women and children.
Jehad Alshrafi / AP 
The Israeli army ordered a mass evacuation of Palestinians on Sunday in large gangs of North Gaza. Colonel Avichay Adraee, military spokesperson, published the order on social networks. It includes several districts in the east and northern Gaza City, as well as the Jabaliya refugee camp.
Trump Slams Netanyahu Corruption Trial
The Gaza message was not the only article linked to the Middle East by Mr. Trump this weekend. On Saturday evening, he doubled his criticisms of the legal proceedings against Netanyahu, who is tried for an alleged corruption, calling him “a political witch hunt, very similar to the witch hunt that I was forced to support”. It comes only a few days after the president’s intervention to support Netanyahu’s attack on the Iranian nuclear program, using SUS bunker bunter bombs).
In the Post on Truth Social, Mr. Trump said that the trial had interfered with talks on a cease-fire in Gaza.
“(Netanyahu) is currently negotiating an agreement with Hamas, which will understand the restoration of hostages. How is it possible that the Prime Minister of Israel can be forced to sit in a courtroom all day, on nothing,” wrote Mr. Trump.
The position echoes the similar remarks that Trump made last week when he called for the cancellation of the trial. Legal experts say that it is unusual for an ally close to a state to interfere so directly in the internal affairs of another, in particular when it concerns an ongoing legal case.
The trial has been postponed several times to Netanyahu’s request, citing security and diplomatic developments. On Sunday, the court agreed to cancel two days of additional testimonies by Netanyahu scheduled for this week.
