US President Donald Trump is allegedly applying "heavy pressure" on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to halt the war in Gaza, according to the Israeli newspaper Israel Hayom, particularly following the pause in hostilities with Iran.

The Israeli newspaper Israel Hayom reported on Thursday, citing political sources, that U.S. President Donald Trump is "exerting heavy pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to end the war on the Gaza Strip," adding that Trump’s pressure campaign "began before the attack on Iran and resumed immediately after it concluded."

This comes after US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that a deal to end the war in Gaza is "very close."

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Trump added that even before Washington launched its strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, a Gaza deal had already been "very close" according to updates provided by US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff.

For his part, Taher Al-Nunu, media advisor to the head of Hamas’s political bureau, stated yesterday that the group "has not yet received any serious indications from mediators suggesting a genuine shift in the Israeli government’s position regarding reaching a ceasefire agreement in Gaza and a prisoner exchange," though he noted that mediators are currently "testing the waters with the involved parties."

On June 25, French President Emmanuel Macron stated on X that he urged Prime Minister Netanyahu to implement an immediate Gaza ceasefire while emphasizing three priorities: securing captives' releases, ramping up humanitarian aid, and advancing a two-state solution as the conflict's only sustainable resolution.

Hamas blames Netanyahu for negotiations collapse

Hamas announced on June 25 that it remains engaged with mediators and open to negotiations, but stressed that any agreement must guarantee three key demands: an immediate end to aggression, a lasting ceasefire, and the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.

The Palestinian faction accused the Israeli government, led by Netanyahu, of obstructing international mediation efforts, while Gaza continues to endure a suffocating siege and unrelenting bombardment, in a war that began on October 7, 2023, and has since killed tens of thousands of Palestinians, displaced nearly the entire population, and reduced much of the territory to ruins.