The U.S. reportedly urged Israel to pause an impending ‘full-scale military operation’ against Hamas in a bid to facilitate further hostage talks, despite the Gaza-based terrorist rebuffing the latest ceasefire plan. Washington asked, “Israel to delay major ground invasion of Gaza amid hostage deal talks,” The Jerusalem Post, reportedly exclusively.
The diplomatic push from Washington comes amid Hamas’s refusal to accept a new ceasefire plan presented by President Donald Trump’s Special Envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff.
“Israel has agreed to the American proposal for the return of the hostages, which is based on the Witkoff framework,” the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement Tuesday. “This proposal was recently conveyed to Hamas via the mediators, even though it is continuing to cling to its refusal.”
With Hamas sticking to its refusal, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, on Thursday, recalled the entire Israeli hostage negotiating team from Doha, Qatar.
The Jerusalem Post reports:
The United States has asked Israel in recent days to delay its full-scale military operation in Gaza as part of efforts to exhaust negotiations for a hostage deal, two sources familiar with the matter told The Jerusalem Post on Sunday.The request included two key components: Delay the full-scale operation in Gaza and enable ongoing negotiations to proceed in parallel with the military operation.While Israel is currently conducting significant operations in Gaza, officials in Jerusalem have made it clear that once the full-scale ground operation begins, Israel will not withdraw from areas it enters, even as part of a potential deal. Moreover, the possibility of a ceasefire as part of any agreement would become more complicated. (…)Despite the ongoing military activity and as a result of Israeli statements, the US has asked Israel to allow the current negotiations for a potential hostage deal to continue. “If there’s an opportunity for a temporary ceasefire to bring back hostages, we are prepared for that,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said last Wednesday.
The news comes as Israel’s operation ‘Gideon’s Chariots’ enters its fourth week. The operation, supported by five IDF divisions, was launched with the two key goals of freeing the remaining hostages and defeating Hamas as a terrorist fighting force in Gaza. Since the operation began, the Israeli military has reportedly eliminated several top operatives belonging to Hamas and Islamic Jihad terror groups.
On Sunday, IDF Chief of Staff, Lt. General Eyal Zamir, declared that the military was ramping up the offensive in Gaza. “We are intensifying our activity in accordance with the established plan,” the IDF chief said Sunday while visiting the troops in Khan Yunis, southern Gaza. “Hamas is under immense pressure—it has lost most of its assets and its command and control. We will deploy every tool at our disposal to bring the hostages home, dismantle Hamas, and dismantle its rule.”
According to the military chief, Israel was engaged in a defensive war in Gaza, and it can only end with the destruction of Hamas’s terrorist fighting capabilities. “We are defending ourselves, and in order to defend ourselves—we fight. That is the main lesson of October 7th,” he explained. “We’re aiming for the decisive defeat of Hamas, and we will achieve it with determination, precision, and while ensuring the safety of our troops.”
The statement coincides with the claim made by Hamas that after three weeks of ground operation, the IDF has nearly doubled the Gaza territory under its control. “Hamas claimed on Sunday that the IDF has already taken control of 77% of the Gaza Strip, nine days after it expanded its offensive,” the Israeli news website Ynetnews reported. “Just over a month ago, Hamas said 40% of the territory was under IDF control. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said last week that Israel will take control of all of Gaza.”
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