Donald Trump said “something special” was going to happen in Gaza even as Benjamin Netanyahu struck a cautious tune about the US president’s ceasefire plan ahead of their high-stakes talks at the White House on Monday.
The US president and the Israeli prime minister are set to meet at the White House on Monday to discuss a US-drafted 21-point proposal aimed at halting the war in Gaza and laying out its post-war governance.
Mr Trump appeared confident on the eve of the meeting, saying “we will get it done” as his administration worked to close a comprehensive plan to get all the Israeli hostages released.
“We have a real chance for GREATNESS IN THE MIDDLE EAST,” Mr Trump wrote on social media. “ALL ARE ON BOARD FOR SOMETHING SPECIAL, FIRST TIME EVER. WE WILL GET IT DONE!!! President DJT.”
This came as the death toll from Israel’s war on Hamas topped 66,000, Gaza’s health ministry said on Sunday.
The rising death toll of Palestinians, mostly women and children, has led to intensifying international pressure on Israel to end its war in Gaza, especially amid its ground offensive in the north of the besieged territory.
Mr Netanyahu, however, said that a ceasefire plan had “not been finalised yet”. “But we’re working with president Trump’s team, actually as we speak, and I hope we can make it a go,” he added in an interview with Fox News.
Mr Trump earlier said his administration was working on a 21-point proposal for an immediate ceasefire between Hamas and Israel that would include the release of all Israeli hostages within 48 hours, the disarmament of Hamas, the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, and a steady withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza.
Hamas said on Sunday that they had not received any new proposal for a ceasefire. It, however, reiterated “readiness to examine any proposals it receives from its mediator brothers in a positive and responsible manner, while upholding the national rights of our people”.
A Hamas official, who was not named, said they had been briefed about the plan but had yet to receive a formal offer from Egyptian and Qatari mediators.
Mr Netanyahu was likely to push for changes in the ceasefire plan, three Israeli officials said on Sunday, according to CNN, even as many of the details had been worked out in advance with the Israeli leader.
He worked on the plan in advance “in close details”, one official said, adding that White House was aware that Mr Netanyahu would not accept all of the outline of the plan.
“The dynamics appear more serious this time,” said a senior Israeli official, “but it still needs to cross the final line.”
Mr Netanyahu met Mr Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner in New York on Thursday, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, to discuss the plan.
Mr Trump had unveiled the ceasefire and post-war proposal to Arab states at the UN two days earlier.
Citing a senior US official, Axios reporter Barak Ravid said on Sunday that the US and Israel were very close to signing an agreement on the 21-point plan. The official added that Hamas still needed to agree, Mr Ravid said.
On Sunday, the Israeli military said in an X post that its warplanes had bombed 140 targets across Gaza over the previous 24 hours.
The Gaza health ministry said in a statement that at least 77 people had been killed by Israeli fire in the past 24 hours. Emergency workers were unable to respond to dozens of desperate calls from trapped residents, it added.
Gaza’s Civil Emergency Service said late on Saturday that Israel had denied 73 requests, sent via international organisations, to let it rescue injured Palestinians in Gaza City. The Israeli military had no immediate comment.
