Israel seeks truce on its terms as army edges into Gaza city

By Dan Williams and Fares Akram

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will convene Israel’s top decision-making forum on Tuesday to discuss prospects for a deal to wind down the almost two-year-old war in Gaza, while the army prepares for a final push into the Palestinian territory’s biggest city.

Hamas will be given until mid-September to agree to a ceasefire leading to the return of the remaining 50 Israeli hostages and the dismantling of what remains of its government and weapons, according to an aide to the Israeli premier, who asked not to be identified discussing a private matter. Should Hamas fail to agree, Israel by then will have completed military preparations and the Gaza City operation will begin, the aide said.

Negotiations for a renewed ceasefire have dragged on for months, with little progress made. Hamas says it might cede some power — but not weapons — under an open-ended truce. Israel has said it’s ready to dispatch negotiators for a new round of mediated talks, but neither a venue nor date have been set.

“We want to be in a position where we bring back all 50 hostages — on condition that our terms are accepted,”  Energy Minister Eli Cohen, a member of Netanyahu’s security cabinet, told Israel’s Army Radio on Tuesday.  “We won’t leave a situation for years to come in which Hamas can rehabilitate and reorganize itself,” he added.

The Israeli government is under pressure to end the war, which has lead to more than 62,000 Palestinian fatalities since the start of the conflict, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, and triggered what United Nations bodies have called a starvation crisis. European and other international governments, already critical of the war’s spiraling humanitarian toll, have condemned the planned push into Gaza’s de facto capital.

The Israeli military has allotted five months to complete the Gaza City takeover, a former senior officer in the Israeli military said. Troops and tanks encircled the city over the weekend and were carrying out incursions and airstrikes, prompting some residents to flee, according to reports from Israel’s Channel 12 television and the Gaza Civil Defense Service.

US President Donald Trump — a Netanyahu ally who has echoed the call for Hamas’ removal — said on Monday that he wanted the war to end “soon,” a sign that patience is wearing thin in Washington.

“It’s got to get over with because, between the hunger and all of the other problems — worse than hunger, death, pure death — people being killed,” he said, adding there was a “very serious diplomatic push” under way.

Israel denies there is hunger in Gaza and says it has put policies in place to prevent starvation. Netanyahu dismissed the UN’s famine declaration.

Trump didn’t say what the US would do if Israel’s campaign drags on or give details about the state of any diplomatic moves.

Netanyahu also faces pressure at home, with most Israelis preferring a deal to recover the remaining hostages even if it leaves Hamas standing, polls show. Relatives of the hostages — 20 of whom are believed to be alive — planned to stage nationwide protests on Tuesday.

Israeli officials have said the army will give the 1 million Palestinian civilians in Gaza City notice before the operation starts in earnest to move south, where they say expanded aid distribution will be established.

Hamas, which is designated a terrorist group by the US and many other countries, triggered the war on Oct. 7, 2023 with an incursion into Israel in which 1,200 people were killed and 250 abducted. Israel has lost more than 450 soldiers in Gaza combat.