A witness walked the streets of Gaza on Sunday and described the horror: bombs falling relentlessly every 20 minutes, while deaths overwhelm not only the streets but also the hospitals, where life should be protected.
This sad and gloomy picture is the urgent call to the White House between Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu, a confrontation that could decide the fate of a tortured people. Another image, equally tragic, is the despair of the families of the hostages; yesterday, the Hamas group announced that it had lost track of two of them due to the bombing.
These are precisely the topics that will be discussed today at the White House, where the Israeli prime minister will have to answer for the latest American peace plans: 21 points that foresee the end of the war, the release of hostages, the disarmament of Hamas, and the formation of a transitional government.
The pressure within Israel on Netanyahu to accept the plan is enormous: the streets are packed, politicians from the center and the left offer their support to the government if it accepts, while far-right forces threaten a political crisis. The prime minister seems aware of the importance of the moment: “We are working. We hope to give approval,” he said in an interview with Fox News. He added that he would accept the exile of the Hamas leaders who are still alive, but that his position on the Palestinian National Authority remains unchanged: for him, the government in Ramallah cannot have a role in the future of the Gaza Strip, a condition unacceptable to Arab countries.
All peace plans have failed so far on these points, and Trump's latest may also fail. The American president is convinced that this time there will be a turning point in Gaza and, why not, the opportunity to win the Nobel Peace Prize, which will be awarded in a few days. "Everyone is involved in something special, for the first time ever. We will make it happen!", he wrote yesterday on social networks, adding in an interview with Axios that "the Arab countries have done a fantastic job. Hamas will follow them."
However, the position of the group responsible for the October 7 attack remains one of the biggest uncertainties of the day. Officially, Hamas says it has not reached an agreement and cannot make a decision. On this subject, Trump also spoke with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, in a telephone conversation yesterday evening about the situation in Gaza. Meloni emphasized Italy's position: yes to a ceasefire and the release of hostages.
While the situation is expected to be clarified today, in Israel the demand for an agreement is very strong: “Two years after the catastrophe of October 7, the prime minister of that October 7 is at a critical, perhaps final crossroads in the war,” wrote Ben Caspit yesterday in Maariv, one of the most well-known commentators on the atmosphere in Israel. “He can accept the agreement, declare victory and call elections, or continue to delay, at the cost of hostage lives, testing Trump’s ever-shrinking patience, to buy a few more weeks or months for his destructive coalition. In short, Netanyahu must choose between his government and the country.”
Meanwhile, Palestinian authorities update the death toll: 50 deaths were recorded yesterday alone, already exceeding the figure of 66 thousand since October 7, 2023.