Latest news with #RonDermer
Shafaq News
3 days ago
- Politics
- Shafaq News
Israel agrees to discuss ending Gaza war in Doha negotiations
Shafaq News – Gaza Israel has, for the first time, agreed to formally consider ending the war in Gaza as part of ongoing negotiations in Doha, Haaretz reported on Sunday. A political source involved in the talks told Haaretz that Israeli negotiators are now engaging with a broader proposal linking a long-term ceasefire to the release of hostages, security assurances, and post-war governance arrangements in Gaza. 'This deal is extremely complex,' the source explained. 'It's not just about hostages or prisoners—it's about ending the war. Everything is interconnected.' The proposed framework reportedly includes a 60-day window to negotiate a permanent ceasefire and the release of 10 surviving Israeli hostages. Additional issues would be addressed during the truce period. According to Haaretz, the Israeli delegation arrived in Doha with expanded authority to explore compromises, although still bound by core security constraints. Israeli media reported that the talks remain active and that a higher-level delegation may soon be sent to accelerate progress. Meanwhile, Yedioth Ahronoth reported that US envoy Steve Witkoff is expected in Doha later this week, potentially joined by Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, Mossad Director David Barnea, National Security Council chief Tzachi Hanegbi, and the acting head of Shin Bet. Despite the diplomatic push, Israeli forces continued their military campaign in Gaza. Palestinian outlets, citing medical sources, reported 15 deaths since dawn, including nine civilians killed while waiting for humanitarian aid. Since the war began on October 7, 2023, Gaza's Health Ministry has documented at least 58,765 deaths and 140,485 injuries. Among them, 891 were killed and 5,754 wounded while trying to access food aid.
Wall Street Journal
04-07-2025
- Politics
- Wall Street Journal
What the U.S. Learned From the 12-Day War
In his Weekend Interview with Walter Russell Mead, 'The Strike on Iran Was 'Jacksonian' ' (June 28), Tunku Varadarajan notes that Israel is in many ways America's 'most reliable partner' in global security matters. Mr. Mead refers to the Jewish state as 'a fantastic ally' that spends a greater share of its gross domestic product on defense than does the U.S. In 2021, Ron Dermer, now Israel's minister of strategic affairs, predicted that Jerusalem would become Washington's most important ally. That, he admitted, was a big claim for a country the size of New Jersey. But a hypothetical helped to test it: If the U.S. had to choose only one ally, which would it choose?
News24
04-07-2025
- Politics
- News24
Israeli officials to hold ceasefire talks in Washington amid military escalation in Gaza
Israeli strikes killed at least 20 people and destroyed homes in north and south Gaza. Thousands fled as tanks advanced and new evacuation orders were issued. Israel, Hamas, and US officials continue ceasefire talks amid stalled truce efforts. Israeli planes and tanks struck heavily in north and south Gaza on Tuesday, destroying clusters of homes, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's confidant was in Washington, expected to discuss a possible ceasefire. Thousands of residents again took flight as Israel issued new orders to evacuate, while its tanks pushed into eastern areas in Gaza City in the north and into Khan Younis and Rafah in the south, residents said. Local health authorities said strikes had killed at least 20 people, with clusters of houses reported destroyed in Gaza City's Shejaia and Zeitoun districts, east of Khan Younis and in Rafah. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military. Ismail, a resident of the Sheikh Radwan suburb of Gaza City, told Reuters that freshly displaced families were setting up tents in the road, after fleeing from areas north and east of the city and finding no other ground available. 'We don't sleep because of the sounds of explosions from tanks and planes. The occupation is destroying homes east of Gaza, in Jabalia and other places around us,' he said via a text message, asking that his surname be withheld for his security. Israel's Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, a confidant of Netanyahu, is in Washington this week to meet with officials at the White House, Trump's spokesperson Karoline Leavitt told reporters at a press briefing on Monday. Dermer would be exploring possibilities of regional diplomatic deals in the wake of Israel's 12-day war with Iran last month, as well as ending the Gaza war, according to an Israeli official. Netanyahu is due to travel to Washington next week and meet Trump on 7 July, a US official said. The two leaders are expected to discuss Iran, Gaza, Syria and other regional challenges, an Israeli official in Washington said. Senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri said pressure by Trump on Israel would be key to any breakthrough in stalled ceasefire efforts. He said: We call upon the US administration to atone for its sin towards Gaza by declaring an end to the war. After a six-week ceasefire at the start of this year, talks on extending the truce have been stalled. Palestinian and Egyptian sources with knowledge of the latest ceasefire efforts said that mediators Qatar and Egypt had stepped up their contacts with the two warring sides, but that no date had been set yet for a new round of truce talks. Hamas says it is willing to release all remaining hostages only as part of a deal that would end the war. Israel says the hostages must go free, and the war can end only when Hamas is disarmed and no longer ruling Gaza. The war began when Hamas fighters stormed into Israel on 7 October 2023, killed 1 200 people, most of them civilians, and took 251 hostages back to Gaza in a surprise attack. Israel's subsequent military assault has killed more than 56 000 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to the Gaza health ministry, displaced almost the entire 2.3 million population and plunged the enclave into a humanitarian crisis.
Yahoo
02-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Israel agreed to conditions for 60-day Gaza ceasefire, Trump says
Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer informed US envoy Steve Witkoff that Israel has accepted the proposal for a ceasefire and hostage deal and is ready to begin close talks with Hamas. US President Donald Trump claimed that "Israel has agreed to the necessary conditions to finalize the 60 Day CEASEFIRE, during which time we will work with all parties to end the War," in a post on Truth Social on Tuesday night. In the post, Trump confirmed that his "representatives had a long and productive meeting with the Israelis today on Gaza." "The Qataris and Egyptians, who have worked very hard to help bring Peace, will deliver this final proposal," he added. "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 continued. Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer informed US envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff that Israel has accepted the proposal for a ceasefire and hostage deal and is ready to begin close talks with Hamas to finalize the agreement, a senior Israeli official said on Wednesday. Earlier on Tuesday, Trump had told reporters that he expects to secure a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas by next week when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visits the US. Qatar submitted a mediation proposal to both Israel and Hamas based on the Witkoff framework, with minor adjustments and additions, according to a source familiar with the details who spoke to The Jerusalem Post earlier on Tuesday. Trump successfully arranged a ceasefire between Israel and Iran last Tuesday, following 12 days of intense Israeli airstrikes on Iran and Iranian ballistic missile and drone launches toward Israel. Amichai Stein and Walla contributed to this report. This is a developing report.
The Guardian
02-07-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Trump claims Israel ready for Gaza peace deal in bid to boost Hamas ceasefire talks
Donald Trump has claimed that Israel is ready to agree to a peace deal with Hamas as he seeks to broker a ceasefire to the war in Gaza that has claimed almost 60,000 lives. In a post on Truth Social, the US president wrote: 'Israel has agreed to the necessary conditions to finalize the 60 Day CEASEFIRE, during which time we will work with all parties to end the War.' He said representatives for Qatar and Egypt will deliver 'this final proposal' to Hamas. There was no immediate official response from Israel or Hamas to Trump's post. It is unclear what conditions specifically Israel has agreed to and 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. For many months, negotiators have been discussing intermittently a version of a ceasefire plan put forward by the US envoy, Steve Witkoff, which is close to previous Israeli proposals. Nonetheless, the claim comes after Trump brokered a ceasefire between Israel and Iran, and on the same day as Israel's strategic affairs minister, Ron Dermer, reportedly met Witkoff and the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio. 'The Qataris and Egyptians, who have worked very hard to help bring Peace, will deliver this final proposal,' Trump wrote. '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.' Trump is expected to meet the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, at the White House on Monday. There was a muted reaction in Israel to Trump's statement, with officials stressing many outstanding unresolved issues. Israel has not yet sent negotiating teams either to Cairo or Qatar, where the indirect talks have been taking place. But Yedioth Ahronoth, a mass-market Israeli newspaper, reported that sources 'involved in the hostage deal talks said that both Israel and Hamas were more motivated, even without clear guarantees that the war would end'. 'The gaps between the sides have not been closed, but they have decreased, and the sense is that a window of opportunity now exists that Israel would like to seize, particularly ahead of Netanyahu's trip and the optimism that Trump has projected,' the newspaper reported. Israel Hayom, another major newspaper, quoted an Israeli official confirming that Hamas had made concessions. 'This progress was the reason that Netanyahu's trip to Washington was brought forward,' the official told the newspaper. Hamas downplayed prospects of a deal. Taher al-Nunu, a senior official, told AFP: 'So far, there has been no breakthrough.' Trump and his aides appear to be seeking to use any momentum from US and Israeli strikes on Iran nuclear sites, as well as a ceasefire that took hold last week in that war, to secure a lasting truce in the war in Gaza. Trump told reporters during a visit to Florida that he would be 'very firm' with Netanyahu on the need for a speedy Gaza ceasefire. 'We hope it's going to happen. And we're looking forward to it happening sometime next week,' he told reporters. 'We want to get the hostages out.' Hamas has said it is willing to free remaining hostages in Gaza in return for a permanent end to the conflict and a full Israeli withdrawal from the devastated territory. Israel says the war can end only if Hamas is disarmed and its leadership agrees to go into exile. But after a polls boost in the wake of Israel's war with Iran and with parliament close to a summer recess, Netanyahu may now feel that he can risk a deal that might alienate rightwing coalition allies. The Israeli military has also told him it has reached many of the objectives set in May, and successive opinion surveys show Israeli public support for a ceasefire that would return the 50 hostages still in Gaza. The new push for a ceasefire comes after a horrific Israeli attack at al-Baqa cafe on the Gaza seafront on Monday that medical and other officials said killed between 24 and 36 Palestinians, including children. The Israel-Gaza war began when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel on 7 October 2023, killing 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 251 hostages back to Gaza. Israel's subsequent military assault has killed more than 56,500 Palestinians, mostly civilians – though experts say this is likely to be an undercount, – displaced almost the entire 2.3 million population and reduced much of the territory to rubble.
