Agencies Deir al-Balah (Gaza Strip)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump are pushing a new comprehensive ceasefire and hostage deal, issuing a clear ultimatum to Hamas over disarmament and the future of Gaza, The Jerusalem Post reported, citing N12.

According to the report, the proposal demands that Hamas disarm and release all hostages immediately. If Hamas complies, the United States would lead an international administration to be established in Gaza. “We know from testimonies of freed hostages and from the information we have today that the hostages’ captors do not appear this way,” a senior Israeli official was cited as saying by The Jerusalem Post. “This is deliberate starvation not only to abuse the hostages themselves but to torment their families and the public,” the official added.

Recalling Trump’s visit to Qatar in May, the report noted that he had suggested the US should take control of Gaza, eliminate Hamas, and turn the region into a “freedom zone.” “If it’s necessary, I think I’d be proud to have the US have it, take it, make it a freedom zone,” Trump said during a business roundtable. “Let some good things happen, put people in homes where they can be safe, and Hamas is going to have to be dealt with,” he was quoted as saying.

However, Al Jazeera reported that Hamas has dismissed any suggestion of disarmament, reaffirming its “national and legal” right to resist Israeli occupation. The group issued a statement on Saturday in response to alleged comments by Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, who told families of Israeli captives that Hamas was “prepared to be demilitarised,” as reported by Haaretz. Hamas denied this, stating, “The resistance and its weapons are a national and legal right as long as the [Israeli] occupation persists.”