Trump's envoys met Qatari and Egyptian mediators as Israeli forces struck Gaza. Mediators proposed a phased hostage exchange for a six-week pause. No next-round date has been set.
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President Donald Trump's envoys met with regional mediators Monday to press a ceasefire push as Israeli forces struck targets in Gaza overnight. The parallel tracks – diplomacy and military action – underscored the challenge of getting both sides past the same hurdles that have derailed every round of talks since the truce collapsed earlier this month.
Israeli jets hit central and southern Gaza overnight, Palestinian medical officials said, killing at least a dozen people. The Israeli military described the strikes as targeting Hamas fighters and infrastructure, including a rocket-launching position near Khan Younis.
Trump's Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, and his special envoy for hostage affairs, Adam Boehler, met with Qatari and Egyptian officials in Doha and Cairo, according to two people familiar with the talks. The discussions focused on extending the lapsed truce and securing the release of remaining hostages held by Hamas.
Hamas has demanded a permanent end to the war and a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza as conditions for releasing the hostages. Israel has insisted on dismantling Hamas's military and governing capacity. That gap has blocked every negotiation round since the ceasefire broke down.
Qatar and Egypt have pressed for a return to the truce framework, warning that a renewed ground offensive in Rafah would trigger a humanitarian catastrophe and risk a wider regional war. The mediators have proposed a phased exchange, the two people said: Hamas releases the elderly, sick, and female hostages first in return for a six-week pause and a surge of aid into northern Gaza.
Israeli officials have not publicly accepted that framework. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said in a statement that any deal must allow the military to resume operations if Hamas violates its terms. The statement did not rule out the phased exchange.
A Hamas delegation was in Cairo for talks with Egyptian intelligence officials, a Hamas spokesman said. The group has shown flexibility on sequencing in past rounds, its leadership holding firm on the demand for a permanent ceasefire.
Witkoff and Boehler returned to Washington late Monday. A White House official said Trump would be briefed Tuesday morning and would decide whether to press Israel for a longer pause or let the military campaign continue.
The strikes kept going through the diplomatic meetings. In Gaza City, an Israeli drone hit a vehicle carrying three men, killing them, residents said. The military said the men were Hamas operatives planting an explosive device.
UN officials said the humanitarian situation in Gaza has deteriorated sharply since the truce collapsed. Fuel reserves at the main power plant are nearly exhausted, forcing hospitals to ration electricity. The limited aid entering through the Rafah and Kerem Shalom crossings is a fraction of what was delivered during the pause.
No date has been set for the next round of talks.
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