U.S. – Israel/Gaza June 2025

2 July
Trump claims Israel ready for Gaza peace deal in bid to boost Hamas ceasefire talks
Muted reaction in Israel to statement, as US president urges Hamas to accept deal ‘because it will not get better’
(The Guardian) It is unclear what conditions specifically Israel has agreed to. Trump’s previous claims that Israel was ready to end the war, including a ceasefire negotiated before his inauguration in January, have quickly broken down as both sides have accused the other of violating agreements on prisoner exchanges.
Hamas said on Wednesday that it was reviewing Trump’s proposal for a 60-day ceasefire, while Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said that any peace agreement would banish Hamas from the Gaza Strip permanently.
Possible ceasefire underscores schisms within Israeli politics
(Al Jazeera) Netanyahu was speaking earlier today, saying that there won’t be a Hamas, that those days are over and Hamas rule in Gaza is going to come to an end. But it’s still unclear exactly what is in this proposal that Trump has been talking about.
Previously, the Israelis have said, since March in fact, that they agreed to the so-called Witkoff proposal that was brought forward by US envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff in an effort to extend phase one of the previous deal rather than moving forward to a second phase that would see negotiations for an end of the war.
Now there are Israelis across the political aisle who are reacting to this today. The opposition is saying that they would offer Netanyahu a political safety net if he were to enter a deal and his right-wing ministers threatened to leave the government, ending the government and collapsing his coalition.

30 June
Israel’s Netanyahu to visit Washington next Monday as Trump presses for ceasefire in Gaza
(AP/PBS Newshour) Netanyahu’s visit comes after Israeli Minister for Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer’s visit to Washington this week for talks with senior administration officials on a Gaza ceasefire, Iran and other matters.
The president in public comments has signaled he’s turning his attention to bringing a close to the fighting between Israel and Hamas, since the ceasefire to end 12 days of fighting between Israel and Iran took hold a week ago.
Trump on Friday told reporters, “We think within the next week we’re going to get a ceasefire” in Gaza, but didn’t offer any further explanation for his optimism.
Israel pounds Gaza, killing at least 58, ahead of White House talks on ceasefire
(Alarabiya) Israeli strikes killed at least 58 people across Gaza on Monday as residents in the enclave’s north reported one of the heaviest bombardments in weeks, while Israeli officials were due in Washington for a new ceasefire push by the Trump administration.
… Palestinian and Egyptian sources with knowledge of the latest ceasefire efforts said that mediators Qatar and Egypt have stepped up their contacts with the two warring sides, but that no date has been set yet for a new round of truce talks.
A Hamas official said that progress depends on Israel changing its position and agreeing to end the war and withdraw from Gaza. Israel says it can end the war only when Hamas is disarmed and dismantled. Hamas refuses to lay down its arms. …
‘Lessons learned’: Israel acknowledges Palestinian civilians harmed at Gaza aid sites
The Israeli military acknowledged on Monday that Palestinian civilians were harmed at aid distribution centers in the Gaza Strip, saying that new instructions had been issued to Israeli forces following “lessons learned.”
Since Israel lifted an 11-week aid blockade on Gaza on May 19, allowing limited UN deliveries to resume, the United Nations says more than 400 Palestinians have been killed while seeking handouts of aid.
“Following incidents in which harm to civilians who arrived at distribution facilities was reported, thorough examinations were conducted in the Southern Command and instructions were issued to forces in the field following lessons learned,” the Israeli military said in a statement. …
A senior UN official said on Sunday that the majority of people killed were trying to reach aid distribution sites of the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.

26 June
Israelis love Trump. But some are unnerved by his vow to save Netanyahu from his corruption trial
(AP) — President Donald Trump’s call for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s corruption trial to be thrown out has plunged the American leader into one of Israel’s most heated debates, unnerving some in its political class just days after they unanimously praised his strikes on Iran.
Trump’s social media post condemning the trial as a “WITCH HUNT,” and his vow that the United States will be the one who “saves” Netanyahu from serious corruption charges, came just two days after he called off an Israeli bombing raid in Iran to preserve a ceasefire.
Both were dramatic interventions in the affairs of an ally that previous U.S. administrations had always insisted was a sovereign nation that made its own decisions. Now the one leader nearly all Israelis seem to support has fully embraced the one who most divides them.

25 June
A whirlwind 48 hours: How Trump’s Israel-Iran ceasefire agreement came together
(AP) Trump, as he worked to seal the deal, publicly harangued the Israelis and Iranians with a level of pique that’s notable even for a commander in chief who isn’t shy about letting the world know what he thinks.
Netanyahu is less than enthusiastic about Trump’s message
The agreement began taking shape early Sunday morning, soon after the U.S. military carried out blistering strikes on Iranian nuclear sites that U.S. defense officials said have set back Tehran’s nuclear program.
Trump directed his team to get Netanyahu on the phone.
The president told Netanyahu not to expect further U.S. offensive military action, according to a senior White House official who was not authorized to comment publicly about the sensitive diplomatic talks.