Trump calls for a ceasefire deal in Gaza as signs of progress emerge
Donald Trump has ramped up pressure for a Gaza ceasefire, calling on Israel and Hamas to “make the deal” as plans emerge for the Israeli PM to visit the US.
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US President Donald Trump has renewed calls for Israel and Hamas to reach a ceasefire, urging an end to the 20-month conflict in Gaza.
Posting on his Truth Social platform, Mr Trump wrote: “MAKE THE DEAL IN GAZA. GET THE HOSTAGES BACK!!!”.
The US president had said last week that he was hoping for a new ceasefire “within the next week”.
A top adviser to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Ron Dermer, is expected in Washington this week for ceasefire talks, as plans take shape for Netanyahu to follow — signalling possible progress toward a deal.
It comes Netanyahu said his country’s war with Iran had created “opportunities” for freeing hostages held by Hamas militants in Gaza, where witnesses and rescuers reported more than 30 people killed.
Netanyahu said that after his country’s recent “victory” over Iran in their 12-day war, “many opportunities have opened up... first of all, to rescue the hostages.”
“Of course, we will also have to solve the Gaza issue, to defeat Hamas, but I estimate that we will achieve both goals,” he said.
Following the war between Israel and Iran that ended with a ceasefire on June 24, domestic and diplomatic pressure has risen on Netanyahu to also secure a halt to the fighting in Gaza.
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IRAN’S MILITARY CHIEF SLAMS ISRAEL
Iran says it was not convinced Israel would abide by a ceasefire that ended their 12-day war this week.
The most serious escalation to date between the arch-foes erupted on June 13, when Israel launched a bombing campaign in Iran that killed top military commanders and scientists linked to its disputed nuclear program.
Israel said its aim was to keep the Islamic republic from developing a nuclear weapon -- an ambition Tehran has consistently denied, insisting it has the right to develop nuclear power for civilian purposes like energy.
The fighting derailed nuclear talks between Iran and the United States, a staunch ally of Israel’s.
“We did not start the war, but we have responded to the aggressor with all our power,” Iran’s armed forces chief of staff, Abdolrahim Mousavi, was quoted as saying by state television, referring to Israel.
“We have serious doubts over the enemy’s compliance with its commitments including the ceasefire, we are ready to respond with force” if attacked again, he added, six days into the ceasefire announced by US President Donald Trump.
In a letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres published on Sunday, Iran demanded that the United Nations recognise Israel and the United States as being to blame for this month’s war.
“We officially request hereby that the Security Council recognise the Israeli regime and the United States as the initiators of the act of aggression and acknowledge their subsequent responsibility, including the payment of compensation and reparations,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi wrote in the letter.
The United States joined Israel in its campaign during the war, carrying out strikes on three key facilities used for Iran’s atomic programme.
According to Iran’s health ministry, at least 627 civilians were killed and 4,900 injured during the 12-day war with Israel.
Retaliatory missile attacks by Iran on Israel killed 28 people, according to Israeli authorities.
IRAN REVEALS EXACT TOLL OF EVIN PRISON STRIKE
An Israeli strike on Tehran’s Evin prison during this month’s 12-day war killed at least 71 people, Iran’s judiciary said Sunday, days after a ceasefire ended hostilities between the two arch-foes.
The strike on Monday destroyed part of the administrative building at Evin, a large, heavily fortified complex in the north of Tehran, which rights groups say holds political prisoners and foreign nationals.
“According to official figures, 71 people were killed in the attack on Evin prison,” said judiciary spokesman Asghar Jahangir of the attack, part of the bombardment campaign Israel launched on June 13.
According to Jahangir, the victims at Evin included administrative staff, guards, prisoners and visiting relatives as well as people living nearby.
Images shared by the judiciary showed destroyed walls, collapsed ceilings, scattered debris, and broken surfaces across waiting areas at the facility.
The judiciary said that Evin’s medical centre and visiting rooms had been targeted.
On Tuesday, a day after the strike, the judiciary said that the Iranian prison authority had transferred inmates out of Evin prison, without specifying their number or identifying them.
The inmates at Evin have included Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi as well as several French nationals and other foreigners.
IRAN EXPANDS ACCESS TO AIRSPACE FOR INTERNATIONAL FLIGHTS
Iran has expanded access to its airspace for international overflights following a ceasefire with Israel, though flight restrictions remain in place across much of the country, an official said Saturday.
“In addition to the eastern half of the country’s airspace being available for domestic, international and overflight operations, the airspace over the central and western parts of the country has now also been opened only for international overflights,” Majid Akhavan, spokesman for the Ministry of Roads and Urban Development, said in a statement carried by the IRNA state news agency.
Flights to and from airports in the north, south and west of the country, including Tehran’s Mehrabad and Imam Khomeini international airports, remained suspended, according to Akhavan.
“All fellow citizens are requested not to go to airports located in the northern, southern and western regions of the country,” he said, urging travellers to follow updates through official sources only.
The move comes after Iran reopened its eastern airspace on Wednesday, following a ceasefire that ended 12 days of fighting with Israel.
Iran had closed its skies entirely on June 13 after Israel launched a wave of airstrikes, prompting Iranian missile retaliation.
Airports now operating include Mashhad in eastern Iran - which Israel claimed to have targeted during the conflict - as well as Chabahar in the southeast.
Flights in other regions remain suspended until further notice.
Meanwhile, Gaza’s civil defence agency said Israeli forces killed 37 people in the war-stricken territory on Saturday, including at least nine children who died when a house was struck.
“At least 23 dead and dozens of wounded were taken (to hospitals) after Israeli firing and raids” across Gaza, civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP.
Among the casualties were three children who were killed in an air strike on a home in Jabalia, northern Gaza.
AFP video footage from Gaza City showed relatives weeping over the bodies of children killed in nearby Jabalia.
Bassal said the children were among 21 people killed in six air strikes by drones and planes across the territory.
He said two other people were killed by Israeli fire while waiting for food aid in the Netzarim zone in central Gaza.
The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Israeli restrictions on media in the Gaza Strip and difficulties in accessing some areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify the tolls and details provided by rescuers and witnesses.
Israel’s military said the strike “eliminated” a founding Hamas military leader responsible for planning the October 7 attack, Tel Aviv officials claimed.
Hakham Muhammad Issa Al-Issa was killed during a targeted airstrike on the Sabra neighbourhood of Gaza City, Israel Defense Forces said.
Al-Issa was one of the final remaining founding members of the terrorist organization’s military wing and played a crucial role in the October 7 attack that launched the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict.
‘YOU GOT BEAT TO HELL’: TRUMP VOWS TO BOMB IRAN AGAIN
President Donald Trump said that Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei needed to be truthful about the fact that he “got beat to hell” by the US and Israel — and warned that America would bomb Iran again if it continues to enrich uranium.
“I said, ‘Look, you’re a man of great faith, a man who is highly respected in his country, you have to tell the truth. You got beat to hell,’” Mr Trump told reporters after mocking the supreme leader for claiming he won the recent conflict.
“The last thing they’re thinking about is nuclear weapons right now,” the president added during his rare appearance in the White House briefing room.
Trump also said that he would “without question, absolutely” consider bombing Iran again if it enriches uranium to an extent that concerns him.
GOT SCENE INSPIRED ISRAEL’S ATTACK ON IRAN’S GENERALS
A clinical Israeli strike that wiped out dozens of Iran’s top military commanders was inspired by a brutal Game of Thrones scene.
The stealth attack was codenamed Red Wedding — after a notorious massacre from the HBO series in which an entire family is slaughtered in mere minutes, the Times of Israel first reported.
The real-life operation on June 13 — part of the start of the 12-day war — saw more than 200 Israeli Air Force aircraft striking roughly 100 targets, specifically nuclear facilities and missile factories.
Like the Game of Thrones scene, it quickly led to a bloodbath, obliterating a swath of high-ranking Iranian officials — including General Hossein Salami, the head of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard; Mohammad Bagheri, chief of the country’s military; and Gholam Ali Rashid, head of Iran’s emergency command.
Israel was able to trick some top commanders of Iran’s air force into gathering for a meeting before they were targeted in one strike, Israeli officials previously revealed.
The strike took inspiration from the show’s infamous massacre in season three that saw a slew of main characters – including Robb Starke (Richard Madden) and his mother, Catelyn Starke (Michelle Fairley) — butchered during a wedding reception by the bride’s family.
ISRAEL WILL ASSASSINATE AYATOLLAH IF OPPORTUNITY PRESENTS
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said the Jewish state had been actively hunting Tehran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during the 12-day onslaught — but the ideal opportunity to assassinate him never came through.
“I estimate that if Khamenei had been in our sights, we would have taken him out,” Katz told Israeli TV on Thursday.
“But Khamenei understood this, went underground to very great depths and broke off contacts with the commanders who replaced those commanders who were eliminated, so it wasn’t realistic in the end.”
Khamenei went into hiding after Israel launched its initial onslaught.
He only surfaced Thursday to bizarrely claim victory over Israel and America after President Trump announced a ceasefire between the warring nations.
“The Islamic Republic was victorious and, in retaliation, delivered a hand slap to America’s face,” Khamenei had claimed — despite Iran’s heavy losses.
This story originally appeared in The New York Post.
Originally published as Trump calls for a ceasefire deal in Gaza as signs of progress emerge
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