They called me with a report: Netanyahu wants to persuade Hamas to make a deal before visiting the White House

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu plans to persuade Hamas to make a deal before his meeting with US President Donald Trump on July 7. Against this background, the IDF intensified attacks on the Gaza Strip. A draft agreement was leaked to the media, which was agreed upon by the Israeli authorities and handed over to representatives of the group. The document provides for the release of the Israeli hostages captured on October 7, 2023, in five stages, as well as the withdrawal of the Israeli military to the border areas. Details can be found in the Izvestia article.

The White House wants a deal

"The [Hamas] movement is ready for a truce and is serious about reaching an agreement. <...> Hamas is ready to accept any initiative that will definitely lead to a final cessation of hostilities," the AP news agency quoted the movement's representative Taher al—Nounou as saying.

It is not reported exactly how many hostages Hamas can release under the terms of the agreement; previous proposals provided for the release of about 10 people. At the same time, according to Israeli data, about 50 hostages may remain in Gaza.

Photo: RIA Novosti/Natalia Seliverstova

On the eve of the American leader Donald Trump announced that Israel had agreed on the conditions proposed by Washington for a 60-day ceasefire in Gaza. The US president called on Hamas to accept the proposal as soon as possible. Otherwise, according to Trump, the situation will only get worse.

On Monday, July 7, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to be received at the White House by Donald Trump. This visit of the head of government to Washington will be the third since the Republican's return to the presidency. Until then, the prime minister intends to persuade Hamas to conclude a deal.

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Five stages

The Israeli media revealed details of the latest draft agreement, suggesting that the 60-day cease-fire in the Gaza Strip will be divided into five stages, at each of which Israel will be able to return the hostages and bodies of the dead captured on October 7, 2023.

It is assumed that Hamas should commit itself not to make a theatrical ceremony out of the transfer of prisoners, as was the case in previous stages, when militants took exhausted people outside, forcing them to "thank" Hamas, and the coffins with the bodies of the dead were put on a stage decorated with derogatory inscriptions.

Israel, in turn, promises to expand humanitarian aid to the civilian population with the participation of the United Nations. On the first day after the truce comes into force, Israel is also expected to begin withdrawing troops from the northern Gaza Strip. During the second phase, the IDF should begin to reduce its presence in the southern sector.

Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun

During the fifth stage, Israel and Hamas will have to agree on a sustainable peace. It is believed that the biggest shift in Israel's current negotiating position is the agreement on the complete withdrawal of Israeli military units to the border.

Donald Trump demands an immediate end to the war in Gaza and the release of the hostages. A week before Netanyahu's meeting with the American leader, Israeli Strategic Planning Minister Ron Dermer flew to Washington to prepare the ground for future talks between Netanyahu and Trump.

Against this background, Washington approved a new deal for $510 million to supply Israel with more than 7,000 JDAM kits that convert conventional bombs into precision bombs.

View of the Gaza Strip

Photo: Global Look Press/Omar Ashtawy

A week ago, the American leader intervened in Israel's domestic politics, demanding that Benjamin Netanyahu be cleared of corruption charges. In his opinion, the trial has become a "witch hunt."

The opposition in Israel believes that the prime minister is using his connections with the American leader in order to avoid investigation.

Currently, the Israeli authorities are rejecting the Hamas peace proposal, which implies a complete cease-fire and the withdrawal of all Israeli military personnel from the Gaza Strip. However, it is obvious that Trump will try to put pressure on Israel in order to achieve a settlement in the Middle East and present this as his victory.

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What do the experts think

Andrey Ontikov, an orientalist, publicist, and author of the Vostochny Vorota Telegram channel, noted in an interview with Izvestia that a truce is quite possible, but its strength is determined by other factors.

— It would be a logical continuation of the events that we have seen, the war between Israel and the United States against Iran, it would be a logical consequence. But at the moment, we are seeing leaks that, by and large, Hamas is quite supportive of the idea of such a truce, but it seems to me that the problem lies elsewhere, not in the truce. We already saw this at the beginning of the year, when a truce was also declared, prisoners and hostages were exchanged for prisoners, and everything seemed to be fine, but then Netanyahu started having internal problems and the war resumed," the expert recalls.

Prisoner exchange between Hamas and Israel, Khan Yunis, February 20, 2025

Photo: Global Look Press/Omar Ashtawy Apaimages

The analyst believes that a truce should imply a transition to peace in the future and the conclusion of certain agreements that would guarantee the end of the war.

— As far as I understand, in the current version, this truce does not guarantee such things, but let's see: in any case, Hamas, the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian population — they all remain hostages of the internal political situation in Israel, — Ontikov believes.

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Danila Krylov, a researcher at the Department of the Middle and Post-Soviet East of the INION RAS, Candidate of Political Sciences, noted in a conversation with Izvestia that the parties have certain chances to reach an agreement.

— These agreements have been reached several times in the past. The real question is whether Israel is ready to comply with them and on what terms they plan to conclude this deal. In fact, the Netanyahu regime does not need hostages. If they were necessary, the conflict would have developed differently. They seem to need to be freed, but apparently they don't really want to spend military resources on this, and perhaps time has been lost. In general, this is not a very interesting deal for the Israeli regime. In my opinion, all this talk about hostages is nothing more than political PR aimed at their own population," the expert said.

Photo: Global Look Press/Rizek Abdeljawad

The analyst believes that rather another question should be raised: whether the IDF will be able to conclude a deal with Hamas, and what are the true goals of the IDF and Netanyahu's military cabinet.

— It seems to me that there are traditionally several options here. Option one is legitimization, intensification of strikes and escalation of the conflict into a more bloody phase, which is now taking place under the auspices of the fact that negotiations will be held there soon, and then they may well take place under the auspices of the fact that Hamas has not fulfilled the terms of the deal," the Arabist believes.