Trump lowers expectations for Gaza ceasefire deal this week
“I think we have a chance this week, or next week,” Trump said July 9 about prospects for a Gaza ceasefire deal. “Not definitely. There's nothing definite about war and Gaza.”
After two nights of meetings with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Trump today somewhat tempered expectations for reaching a Gaza ceasefire deal this week, suggesting it might take more time. US Middle East Envoy Steve Witkoff also delayed his trip to Doha, Qatar, to advance the discussions.
A key remaining stumbling block in the talks, mediated by Qatar and Egypt, concerns the Israeli government’s request to keep Israeli Defense Forces present in a corridor in southern Gaza, known as the Morag crossing, during the proposed 60-day truce.
“I think we have a chance this week, or next week,” Trump told reporters of prospects for a Gaza ceasefire deal at a White House event with African leaders today, following meeting with Netanyahu Tuesday night.
“Not definitely,” Trump continued. “There's nothing definite about war and Gaza…But there's a very good chance that we'll have…an agreement of some kind this week and maybe next week, if not.”
Witkoff on Tuesday had said that he was hopeful that by the end of the week they would reach a 60-day Gaza ceasefire deal that would return 10 living hostages, and that they had begun to notify hostage families.
“We’re in proximity talks now, and we had four issues, and now we’re down to one after two days of proximity talks,” Witkoff said at a Trump cabinet meeting on Tuesday. “So we are hopeful that by the end of this week, we will have an agreement that will bring us into a 60 day ceasefire. Ten living hostages will be released. Nine deceased will be released.
“We’re meeting at the President’s direction with all the hostage families to let them know, and we think that this will lead to a lasting peace in Gaza,” Witkoff said.
But after having Netanyahu to the White House a second night on Tuesday, Witkoff’s trip to Doha was postponed, the Times of Israel reported.
The delay in Witkoff’s trip is not related to pessimism about the talks, but just that Netanyahu is in town and there might need to be some further consultations, a source familiar told Diplomatic about the envoy’s delayed travel plans.
But the Trump team may have underestimated the issues that need to be resolved to secure a deal, and now may be coming to appreciate that it may take more time.
President Trump “likes doing things quickly, and maybe doesn’t have a lot of patience for detail,” Shira Efron, with the Israel Policy Forum, told Diplomatic. “I think it was a faulty assumption that he can just declare a ceasefire [between Israel and Hamas], like he did between Iran and Israel. And both sides were sort of like, okay.”
“It’s very clear that there’s a very big dissonance between what was the expectation of him saying something in Washington, and the fact that there are actual negotiations taking place in Doha on actual issues,” Efron said. “So in a sense….maybe he’s sort of realized that, that he doesn’t have a magic wand. It’s more complex.”
“The big stumbling block at the moment …even to get to a temporary ceasefire is the lines to which the IDF will withdraw,” Efron said. “What I am hearing is that…in the last few hours, Israel is showing more flexibility [on the Morag Corridor]…because of messages from the Americans.”
“Maybe I’m just really optimistic out of character, but I actually think we’re going to see a deal,” Efron said.
“Shortly before Netanyahu met with Trump on Tuesday, a delegation of senior Qatari officials held talks with Witkoff for three hours at the White House to discuss the hostage negotiations,” the Times of Israel reported:
A source familiar with the matter said the three issues Witkoff suggested have been solved were Hamas’s demand for guarantees from the mediators that the ceasefire will remain in place if the talks on the terms of a permanent ceasefire have not wrapped up by the end of the 60-day truce under discussion; Hamas’ demand for aid to be surged into Gaza through UN-backed mechanisms; and terms of the hostage-prisoner swap.
The source noted that while progress was made on the first two issues, the identities of Israelis and Palestinians to be released in the deal have not yet been discussed by the negotiators in Doha, with Hamas insisting that other matters be resolved first. …
The remaining obstacle is the partial withdrawal of the IDF from Gaza during the period of the 60-day truce…Israel is insisting that it remain in the Morag Corridor in southern Gaza, near where it says it plans to create a ‘humanitarian city’ in which the Strip’s entire population will be herded and prevented from leaving once vetted. …
A compromise on the issue will take more time to secure, the source said.
“From what I can see, they are getting closer, but there is, right now, a conceptual challenge…where there needs to be an understanding,” former US Middle East peace negotiator David Makovsky told me.
“Israel seems to be insistent that it maintains [a troop presence in] the Morag Crossing, which is between Khan Younis and Rafah,” in southern Gaza, Makovsky, now with the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said. “Israel is trying to create the beginning of a Hamas-free zone right in southern Gaza. And therefore, it does not want to redeploy away from there at this time.”
“The convergence between Trump and Netanyahu is that there's an understanding that a 60-day cease fire would certainly be beneficial,” Makovsky continued. “Whether it’s an off ramp from the war, as some might hope, or not.”
Netanyahu said today that he and Trump are in alignment on Israel’s goals for Gaza, but that they did not want a deal at any price.
We “want to achieve the release of our hostages,” Netanyahu told journalists after meeting with a bipartisan group of Senators today. “We want to end Hamas rule in Gaza, make sure that Gaza does not pose a threat to Israel anymore. In pursuing this common goal, we have a common strategy.”
“President Trump wants a deal, but not at any price,” he said. “I want a deal but not at any price. Israel has security requirements and other requirements, and we're working together to try to achieve” those.
Any reports suggesting any American pressure on Israel to show more flexibility are false, the Israeli leader said.
“This doesn’t involve pressure,” he said. “It doesn’t involve coercion. It involves full coordination.”
(Photo: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at a meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump, and Vice President JD Vance, held in the Oval Office in the White House on July 8, 2025. Credit: Avi Ohayon/Israel GPO.)
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