The Israeli and Hamas delegations have launched an indirect ceasefire talk in Qatar. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu heads to Washington to meet Donald Trump.
Netanyahu said he believes that the meeting with the US president on Monday will help advance efforts to get more hostages and contracts for the release of a ceasefire in Gaza.
He said he gave clear instructions to negotiators to achieve the ceasefire agreement under conditions accepted by Israel.
Hamas says he responded to the latest ceasefire proposal in a positive spirit, but it is clear that there is still a gap between the two aspects that need to be filled if a contract is needed to be agreed.
For now, Hamas appears to be holding back the essentially same conditions that he had previously argued – including guarantees of the end of the armistice and the end of all hostilities in the withdrawal of Israeli forces.
The Netanyahu government has previously rejected this.
Israel's position may not have shifted to any degree. Netanyahu said he was still committed to explaining it as a three-man mission when he was leaving Israel for the United States.
Qatar and Egyptian mediators will cut through their work in trying to overcome these sticking points during indirect consultations between Israel and Hamas.
Israel not only imposing an 11-week lockdown on aid entering Gaza, which was partially lifted a few weeks ago, but also resumed its attack on Hamas with great strength.
The Israeli government says these measures aim to further weaken Hamas and force hostages to be negotiated and released.
In the last 24 hours, Israeli forces say they have attacked 130 Hamas targets and killed many militants.
However, the cost of living for civilians in Gaza continues to grow. Hospital officials in Gaza said more than 30 people died on Sunday.
The current question is not only whether talks in Qatar can achieve an acceptable compromise between both sides, but also whether Trump can persuade Netanyahu that the war must end at Monday's meeting.
Many in Israel already believe that it is a price worth paying to save the remaining hostages.
Again, they came out on the streets on Saturday night and called on Netanyahu to sign a contract, so that the hostages would eventually be released.
However, there are strong voices in Netanyahu's cabinet, including National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gwyr and Finance Minister Bezarel Smotrich, who have re-announcing his fierce opposition to ending the war in Gaza before Hamas was completely eliminated.
Again, there is the emergence of real momentum over ceasefire contracts, but there is uncertainty as to whether either the Israeli government or Hamas is ready to reach an agreement that may not have reached the important terms they have set up so far.
And once again, the Palestinian and Israeli hostage families of Gaza are still held there. I hope this doesn't become another false dawn.
Israeli forces launched a campaign in Gaza in response to the attack on October 7, 2023. The attack killed around 1,200 people and took 251 hostages.
At least 57,338 people have been killed in Gaza since, according to the territory's Hamasran Health Ministry.