President Donald Trump is leaning on Israel to end its conflict in Gaza and secure a hostage deal as he looks to expand the Abraham Accords – a cornerstone achievement of his first term.
The pressure is mounting as Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer is set to hold White House meetings on Monday on ending the 20-month-long war in Gaza.
In a 1 a.m. Sunday post on his social media platform Truth Social, Trump said, ‘Make the deal in Gaza. Get the hostages back!!!’
Reports on Sunday suggested mediators overseeing the hostage negotiations – which are closely tied to securing an end to Israel’s military operations and a day-after plan for Gaza – are pushing Israel to send negotiators to Egypt. But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has thus far refused to do so.
Instead, Dermer was reportedly sent to Washington to ensure the U.S. and Israel are aligned before indirect negotiations continue.
Israel maintains that Hamas has been the roadblock in returning the remaining 50 hostages still held by the terrorist network, including 49 of whom were abducted on Oct.7, 2023, as well as one deceased hostage who has been held since 2014.
According to the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, another 27 of the hostages are assessed to have been killed either during or since the October 2023 attack, including two Americans, Itay Chen and Omer Neutra.
Netanyahu has also said there are ‘doubts’ about the fate of several other hostages.
On Monday, the Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs Gideon Sa’ar said, ‘Israel is serious in its will to reach a hostage deal and ceasefire in Gaza.’
He pointed to Jerusalem’s acceptance of a recent proposal presented by Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, but which Hamas rejected as it did not include a solution to a permanent ceasefire and a plan to withdraw Israeli forces from Gaza.
Witkoff is expected to head to Cairo in the coming days to begin hashing out new negotiations.
Ending Israel’s military operations in Gaza will prove a crucial step in expanding Trump’s ambitions to bring new nations into the Abraham Accords.
On Monday, Sa’ar echoed Jerusalem’s ambitions in this effort and said, ‘We have opportunities in front of us. We paid for the new reality in the Middle East with the blood of our soldiers and citizens.’
‘Israel is interested in expanding the Abraham Accords circle of peace and normalization. We have an interest in adding countries, such as Syria and Lebanon, our neighbors, to the circle of peace and normalization – while safeguarding Israel’s essential and security interests,’ he added.
Trump has not detailed which nations are interested in normalizing diplomatic relations with Israel, though nations like Saudi Arabia have made clear that so long as Palestinians continue to suffer in the Israel-Hamas conflict, normalization is off the table.
‘We have some really great countries in there right now, and I think we’re going to start loading them up, because Iran was the primary problem,’ Trump told Maria Bartiromo during an exclusive ‘Sunday Morning Futures’ interview this week.
