“MAKE IT HAPPEN”
On Monday, White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said that a truce deal could be finalised this week.
“I’m not making a promise or prediction, but it is there for the taking and we are going to work to make it happen,” Sullivan told reporters.
The positive signals come days away from US President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration.
Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, however, warned on Monday he would oppose any deal that stopped the war.
“The proposed agreement is a catastrophe for Israel’s national security,” Smotrich said on X.
“We will not be part of a surrender deal that involves releasing dangerous terrorists, halting the war, squandering the hard-won achievements paid for in blood and abandoning many hostages still in captivity.”
Smotrich, an outspoken member of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ruling coalition, has repeatedly opposed halting the war in Gaza.
His comments came amid rising calls by Israelis, particularly families of hostages held in Gaza, to reach an accord that would bring their loved ones home.
Among the key sticking points in the talks have been disagreements over the permanence of any ceasefire and the scale of humanitarian aid for the Palestinian territory.
Other points of contention include the return of displaced Gazans to their homes, the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Palestinian territory and the reopening of border crossings.
Netanyahu has firmly rejected a full withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza and has opposed any Palestinian governance of the territory.
Even as intense diplomatic efforts continued towards a truce deal, Israeli forces pounded Gaza City on Monday, killing more than 50 Palestinians, according to civilian rescuers.
“They bombed schools, homes and even gatherings of people,” Mahmud Bassal, spokesman for the civil defence agency, told AFP.
The Israeli military also suffered losses on Monday, with five of its soldiers killed in fighting in northern Gaza, the military said in a statement.
Source: CNA
