Hamas is open to a ceasefire. But Netanyahu says there's no room for
Hamas in postwar Gaza
[July 03, 2025]
By FATMA KHALED, SAMY MAGDY and BASSEM MROUE
CAIRO (AP) — Hamas and Israel staked out their positions Wednesday ahead
of expected talks on a Washington-backed ceasefire proposal, with the
militant group suggesting it was open to an agreement while the Israeli
prime minister vowed that “there will be no Hamas” in postwar Gaza.
Both sides stopped short of accepting the proposal announced Tuesday by
U.S. President Donald Trump. Hamas insisted on its longstanding position
that any deal bring an end to the war in Gaza.
Trump said Israel had agreed on terms for a 60-day ceasefire in Gaza and
urged Hamas to accept the deal before conditions worsen. The U.S. leader
has been increasing pressure on the Israeli government and Hamas to
broker a ceasefire and hostage agreement.
Trump said the 60-day period would be used to work toward ending the war
— something Israel says it won't accept until Hamas is defeated. He said
a deal might come together as soon as next week.
But Hamas' response, which emphasized its demand that the war end,
raised questions about whether the latest offer could materialize into
an actual pause in fighting.
Hamas official Taher al-Nunu said the militant group was “ready and
serious regarding reaching an agreement.” He said Hamas was “ready to
accept any initiative that clearly leads to the complete end to the
war.”
A Hamas delegation was expected to meet Wednesday with Egyptian and
Qatari mediators in Cairo to discuss the proposal, according to an
Egyptian official. The official spoke on condition of anonymity, because
he wasn't authorized to discuss the talks with the media.
Disagreement on how the war should end
Throughout the nearly 21-month-long war, ceasefire talks between Israel
and Hamas have repeatedly faltered over whether the war should end as
part of any deal.
Hamas said in a brief statement Wednesday that it had received a
proposal from the mediators and was holding talks with them to “bridge
gaps” to return to the negotiating table.
Hamas has said it's willing to free the remaining 50 hostages, less than
half of whom are said to be alive, in exchange for a complete Israeli
withdrawal from Gaza and an end to the war.
Israel says it will only agree to end the war if Hamas surrenders,
disarms and exiles itself, something the group refuses to do.
“I am announcing to you — there will be no Hamas,” Israeli Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said during a speech Wednesday.
An Israeli official said the latest proposal calls for a 60-day deal
that would include a partial Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and a surge in
humanitarian aid to the territory. The mediators and the U.S. would
provide assurances about talks to end the war, but Israel isn't
committing to that as part of the latest proposal, the official said.
The official wasn't authorized to discuss the details of the proposed
deal with the media and spoke on condition of anonymity.
It wasn't clear how many hostages would be freed as part of the
agreement, but previous proposals have called for the release of about
10.
“I’m holding my hands and praying that this will come about," said Idit
Ohel, mother of Israeli hostage Alon Ohel. “I hope the world will help
this happen, will put pressure on whoever they need to, so the war will
stop and the hostages will return.”
On Monday, Trump is set to host Netanyahu at the White House, days after
Ron Dermer, a senior Netanyahu adviser, held discussions with top U.S.
officials about Gaza, Iran and other matters.
Trump issues another warning
On Tuesday, Trump wrote on social media that Israel had “agreed to the
necessary conditions to finalize” the 60-day ceasefire, "during which
time we will work with all parties to end the War.”
“I hope, for the good of the Middle East, that Hamas takes this Deal,
because it will not get better — IT WILL ONLY GET WORSE,” he said.
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Palestinians gather their belongings ahead of homes demolition by
Israeli forces in the Tulkarem refugee camp, West Bank, Wednesday,
July 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed
Trump’s warning may find a skeptical audience with Hamas. Even
before the expiration of the war’s longest ceasefire in March, Trump
had repeatedly issued dramatic ultimatums to pressure Hamas to agree
to longer pauses in the fighting that would see the release of more
hostages and a return of more aid for Gaza’s civilians.
Still, Trump views the current moment as a potential turning point
in the brutal conflict that has left more than 57,000 dead in the
Palestinian territory.
Gaza's Health Ministry said the death toll passed the 57,000 mark
Tuesday into Wednesday, after hospitals received 142 bodies
overnight. The ministry does not differentiate between civilians and
combatants in its death count, but says that more than half of the
dead are women and children.
Since dawn Wednesday, Israeli strikes killed a total of 40 people
across the Gaza Strip, the ministry said. Hospital officials said
four children and seven women were among the dead.
The Israeli military, which blames Hamas for the civilian casualties
because it operates from populated areas, was looking into the
reports.
The war began on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants attacked
southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking roughly 250
hostages.
The fighting has left the coastal Palestinian territory in ruins,
with much of the urban landscape flattened in the fighting. More
than 90% of Gaza's 2.3 million population has been displaced, often
multiple times. And the war has sparked a humanitarian crisis in
Gaza, pushing hundreds of thousands of people toward hunger.
Hospital director killed
The director of the Indonesian Hospital, Dr. Marwan al-Sultan, was
killed in an apartment in an Israeli strike west of Gaza City, a
hospital statement said. The hospital is the Palestinian enclave’s
largest medical facility north of Gaza City and has been a critical
lifeline since the start of the war.
The hospital was surrounded by Israeli troops last month and
evacuated alongside the other two primary hospitals in northern
Gaza.
The bodies of the doctor, his wife, daughter and son-in-law, arrived
at Shifa Hospital torn into pieces, according to Issam Nabhan, head
of the nursing department at the Indonesian Hospital.
“Gaza lost a great man and doctor," Nabhan said. "He never left the
hospital one moment since the war began and urged us to stay and
provide humanitarian assistance. We don’t know what he did to
deserve getting killed.”
In central Gaza, the Al Awda Hospital said an Israeli strike near
the entrance of a school housing displaced Palestinians killed eight
people, including three children, and wounded 30 others. The
hospital also said Israel struck a group of Palestinians who
gathered near the entrance of the hospital’s administration building
in Nuseirat refugee camp.
In other developments, Israel said an airstrike last week killed two
Hamas members who allegedly took part in a June 24 attack in which
seven Israeli soldiers were killed when a Palestinian attacker
attached a bomb to their armored vehicle.
___
Bassem Mroue reported from Beirut. Moshe Edri in Tel Aviv, Israel,
Kareem Chehayeb in Beirut, and Josef Federman in Jerusalem,
contributed to this report.
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