Israel is giving Hamas “several days” to rethink terms for a new Gaza ceasefire, raising the prospect of further pressure tactics or a resumption of war.
A six-week truce expired on Sunday with the sides divided over core conditions to enable an open-ended cessation of hostilities. During the first phase, Israel recovered 33 hostages held by Hamas in return for hundreds of Palestinians prisoners.
Israel cut humanitarian aid to Gaza for the first time in more than a year, on Sunday, signaling a renewed zero-tolerance stance. Israel accuses the Iranian-backed militant group of appropriating aid supplies to fund rearmament and recruitment. The move incensed Arab leaders, who are meeting in Cairo on Tuesday to find ways of staving off a crisis that has shaken the region.
“We are giving Hamas several days in which to try to agree to some kind of bridging proposal,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s spokesperson Omer Dostri said Tuesday. “If not, we shall convene – the security Cabinet, the premier and the ministers – to make a decision,” he told Israel’s Army Radio.
Steve Witkoff, President Donald Trump’s special envoy overseeing the Qatari- and Egyptian-mediated talks, proposed another short truce and further hostage-for-prisoner swaps spanning the Ramadan fasting month being observed by Muslims. Hamas rejected it and has maintained that Israel must withdraw from Gaza.
The pause in fighting has broadly persisted despite the lapse of the ceasefire.
Briefing reporters separately, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said restarting the offensive against Hamas is an option. “If we will have to do it, we will do it,” he said without being drawn on the potential timing.
Israel, with U.S. support, has made any long-term deal to end the war in Gaza contingent on Hamas being disarmed and removed from governance.
