CNN
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Donald Trump was not shy about his desire to end the war in Gaza.
After a 12-day conflict between Israel and Iran was concluded in a ceasefire, the US president has been pushing hard for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, and when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was ready to visit the White House, he said he was “looking for that to happen next week.”
Trump announced Tuesday that Israel has “accepted the necessary conditions” to finalize the 60-day ceasefire. Netanyahu will convened and discuss his full cabinet on Saturday night. Hamas, meanwhile, said he is considering the latest proposal, not indicating whether or not to accept it.
Both sides have long had conflicting demands that negotiators cannot bridge, but as the war enters 21 months, there is a new hope for a deal. Here’s what you need to know.
Since the ceasefire between Israel and Iran on June 24, mediators Qatar and Egypt, as well as the United States, have doubled their calls for a new Gaza ceasefire. A Qatar Foreign Ministry spokesman told CNN that the Israeli-Iran agreement created “momentum” for the latest talks between Israel and Hamas.
The Netanyahu government faces international criticism of the suffering that the Palestinians in Gaza are being subjected to.
Israel imposed a comprehensive lockdown on humanitarian delivery in March. The lockdown was somewhat eased in May after a global expert chorus warned that hundreds of thousands were soon hungry.
Hundreds of Palestinians in Gaza have been recently killed by an Israeli strike. And the distribution of aid has been undermined by violence, with hundreds being killed on their way to get food from the controversial US aid aid initiative, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).
Pressure is also growing from within Israel on Netanyahu. Opposition leader Oia Rapid said Wednesday that she has joined the coalition government to enable hostage trade.
Trump predicted on Tuesday that Netanyahu would like to end the war. “He wants to. I can say he wants to. I think we’ll have a deal next week,” Trump told reporters.
The exact details of the new proposal for a 60-day ceasefire and hostage release deal remain vague.
Qatar’s Prime Minister previously said that Qatar and Egypt were working to find a “center” to advance from the US conflict proposed several months ago. The proposal outlined the bodies of 10 living Israeli hostages that Hamas took during the attack on October 7, 2023, as well as 18 more hostages in a 60-day ceasefire.
According to the Israeli government, of the 50 hostages still in Gaza, at least 20 are believed to be alive.
The US and mediators are offering stronger assurances about reaching a settlement to end the war in Gaza, as part of their updated proposal, Israeli officials told CNN. Officials did not provide a specific language for the document, but said the language was stronger than previous guarantees.
Israel has agreed to allow a surge in humanitarian aid through traditional UN humanitarian channels, not through the controversial US-backed Humanitarian Foundation, Israel said.
What is Israel’s demand?
In addition to his purpose of bringing hostages into the house, Netanyahu was not shaking from his greatest purpose: disarmament in Gaza and the destruction of Hamas’ military and governance capabilities.
“I’m telling you – there’s no Hamas. There’s no Hamastan. We’re not back to that,” Netanyahu said Wednesday. “We’ll take all the hostages back.”
But over the weekend, the Prime Minister brought about a rhetorical change in laying out Israeli goals. For the first time, we prioritized the return of hostages before what was called “the best objective” to defeat Hamas.
Netanyahu said “many opportunities have been opened” following Israeli military operations in Iran. “First, to save the hostages,” he said. “Of course we need to solve the Gaza problem and defeat Hamas, but I think we’ll complete both missions.”
This week, Israeli forces began to recommend pursuing a diplomatic path in Gaza after nearly two years of fighting and the removal of many of Hamas’ senior leaders.
On Tuesday, military officials told CNN that Israel has not fully achieved all war goals, but as Hamas’ troops have been reduced and become more difficult to effectively target the rest of the militant group. “It’s hard to achieve tactical goals now,” the official said.
Hamas has three main requirements: To ensure the end of the battle, the humanitarian assistance provided by the United Nations, and to retreat to the position held on March 2 this year, Israel renewed its attacks and occupied the northern part of the strip.
A Hamas official told CNN in late May that the group was “prepared to return hostages in one day. There’s a need for assurance that war will not come again afterwards.”
In response to a previous Trump administration-backed ceasefire proposal in May, Hamas asked us to assure us that permanent ceasefire negotiations would continue and that combat would not resume after a 60-day suspension.
Whether a ceasefire is temporary or a path to a permanent ceasefire is the biggest sticking point between the parties fighting.
Hamas also shows no willingness to abandon political and military power in Gaza.
In the 21-month war between Israel and Hamas, the ceasefire is only in place for a total of nine weeks.
According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, more than 57,000 children have been killed in Gaza during the battle.
The first ceasefire came into effect in November 2023, but lasted only a week. Meanwhile, 105 hostages were released from Gaza in exchange for the Palestinian prisoner scores.
The second ceasefire was not hit until January 2025 just before Trump returned to the White House. In the first “stage” of the ceasefire, more than eight weeks, Hamas released 33 hostages, and Israel released about 50 Palestinian prisoners for all that the Israelites were released.
In the second phase planned, Israel was to agree to a permanent ceasefire. However, Israel said it had resumed its attack on March 18, crushing the ceasefire, derailing consultations and putting pressure on Hamas to release the remaining hostages.
CNN’s Jeremy Diamond, Kristen Holmes, Kylie Atwood, Dana Karni, Michael Schwartz and Orenly Berman contributed to this report.