US President Trump on Sunday urged progress in ceasefire talks in the 20-month war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, though some weary Palestinians were skeptical about the chances, the AP reports. Meanwhile, Israel issued a new mass evacuation order for parts of northern Gaza. "MAKE THE DEAL IN GAZA. GET THE HOSTAGES BACK!!!" Trump wrote on social media early Sunday. Trump raised expectations Friday by saying there could be an agreement within the next week.
Ron Dermer, a top adviser to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, was set to travel to Washington this week for talks on a ceasefire, an Israeli official said, and plans were being made for Netanyahu to travel there in the coming weeks, a sign there may be movement on a deal. Netanyahu was meeting with his security Cabinet on Sunday evening, the official said on condition of anonymity to discuss plans that hadn't been finalized.
An eight-week ceasefire was reached as Trump took office earlier this year, but Israel resumed the war in March after trying to get Hamas to accept new terms on next steps. "Since the beginning of the war, they have been promising us something like this: Release the hostages and we will stop the war," said one Palestinian, Abdel Hadi Al-Hour. "They did not stop the war." Talks between Israel and Hamas have repeatedly faltered over a major sticking point—whether the war should end as part of any ceasefire agreement.
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Meanwhile, an airstrike Sunday evening hit a house sheltering displaced people in the Jabaliya al-Nazla area, killing at least 15, according to Fares Awad, head of the Gaza's Health Ministry's ambulance and emergency services in the territory's north. He said women and children made up over half the dead. Israel's military did not comment on the strike, but the area fell under the latest evacuation order.
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