Israel Responds to Trump's Ceasefire Claim

Israel on Wednesday indicated that President Trump was correct about it agreeing to "the necessary" conditions for a ceasefire in Gaza. "We said yes to Special Envoy Witkoff's proposals," Israeli foreign minister Gideon Saar said while speaking to reporters during a state visit to Estonia. "We are serious in our will to reach a hostage deal and a ceasefire." NBC News reports Saar did not delve into the details of the proposal but said "our goal is to begin proximity talks as soon as possible."

But Reuters reports Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's first public remarks since Trump's announcement and Hamas' reaction "reiterated long-held positions, giving no clues as to whether or how a compromise agreement could be reached." More specifically:

• Hamas said on Wednesday that it had received the proposal from Qatari and Egyptian mediators and would be "conducting national consultations." It reiterated that it is seeking an end to the war and an Israeli pullout from Gaza.
• Netanyahu offered this: "There will not be a Hamas. There will not be a 'Hamastan'. We're not going back to that. It's over."
• An enduring sticking point in ongoing ceasefire talks has been whether the war should end as part of any deal. That's what Hamas wants, but Israel has said it will not agree to such an end unless Hamas "surrenders, disarms, and exiles itself," per the AP.