WASHINGTON. U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday that it would likely be known within 24 hours whether Hamas will accept what he has described as a “final proposal” for a ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinian militant group in Gaza.
Trump, who is seeking re-election, also confirmed that he had discussions with Saudi officials about expanding the Abraham Accords, a normalization agreement between Israel and several Arab nations brokered during his first term.
Earlier this week, Trump said Israel had accepted the necessary terms for a proposed 60-day ceasefire, during which both parties would work to bring an end to the ongoing war. When asked on Friday if Hamas had agreed to the deal, he responded, “We’ll see what happens, we are going to know over the next 24 hours.”
A source close to Hamas stated on Thursday that the group was seeking assurances that the U.S.-backed ceasefire proposal would ultimately lead to a complete end to Israel’s military campaign in Gaza. Two Israeli officials noted that the specifics of the deal were still under negotiation.
According to Gaza authorities, dozens of Palestinians were killed in Israeli airstrikes on Thursday, underscoring the continuing violence. The conflict escalated dramatically in October 2023 when Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking around 250 hostages, according to Israeli figures.
In response, Israel launched a military offensive that the Gaza health ministry says has resulted in the deaths of more than 56,000 Palestinians. The war has also displaced the entire population of Gaza, led to severe food shortages, and prompted genocide accusations at the International Court of Justice, as well as war crimes allegations at the International Criminal Court. Israel has strongly denied these accusations.
A previous two-month ceasefire ended in March when Israeli strikes killed more than 400 Palestinians in a single day. Earlier this year, Trump proposed a controversial U.S. administration of Gaza, which rights groups, the United Nations, and Palestinian officials called a form of “ethnic cleansing.”
Regarding the Abraham Accords, Trump acknowledged reports that he had met with Saudi Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman at the White House late Thursday. “It’s one of the things we talked about,” Trump said, adding, “I think a lot of people are going to be joining the Abraham Accords.”
According to Axios, after meeting Trump, the Saudi official spoke by phone with Iranian military chief Abdolrahim Mousavi. Trump’s meeting with the Saudi delegation comes ahead of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s scheduled visit to Washington next week.
Edgardo Hernal started college at UP Diliman and received his BA in Economics from San Sebastian College, Manila, and Masters in Information Systems Management from Keller Graduate School of Management of DeVry University in Oak Brook, IL. He has 25 years of copy editing and management experience at Thomson West, a subsidiary of Thomson Reuters.
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