
The Israeli government warned Hamas to accept the American proposal for a ceasefire and the release of the hostages it had been holding since the October 7, 2023 attack, or else it would face Israeli forces.
However, US President Donald Trump assured that the ceasefire is "very close".
Israel is facing growing international pressure over the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip and the humanitarian situation in the Palestinian enclave, where a blockade of more than two months has caused widespread shortages of food, medicine and other essential goods.
In the middle of the month, the Israeli army escalated its military operations even further, with publicly stated goals of freeing the remaining hostages and bringing the entire Palestinian enclave under “control” and destroying Hamas, which took power there in 2007.