Israel-Syria Talks Progress, Hamas Still a Roadblock as Netanyahu Will Visit Washington Next Week

JERUSALEM, Israel – President Donald Trump is pushing for a ceasefire in Gaza as the battle with Hamas continues. Talks between Israel and Syria for an end to decades-long hostilities are reportedly making progress. Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is again headed to Washington next week.

The prime minister will meet with Trump at the White House on Monday. Iran and Gaza are expected to be the main topics on the agenda.

Trump wants an end to the Gaza war, preferably within days.

However, Netanyahu is sticking to his requirements on how the war must end: Hamas frees all the hostages and lays down its weapons; and the terror group gives up power in Gaza.

So far, Hamas seems unwilling to agree to any of that.

State Department Spokesperson Tammy Bruce observed, "They continue to refuse to lay down their arms or to free the remaining hostages, including the remains of two Americans."

Even some Europeans admit Hamas must go before a real peace can be achieved in Gaza. Beate Meinl-Reisinger, Austria's minister for European and international affairs, stated, “Let me be clear, Hamas must not be part of Gaza's future."

More hopeful is the direct and daily contact between Israel and Syria, which could lead to an end to hostilities but would fall short of a peace agreement.

Israel is eager to make it happen. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar declared, “We have an interest in adding countries such as Syria and Lebanon, our neighbors, to the circle of peace and normalization."

Yet, a sticking point could be the Golan Heights, from which Syria threatened and terrorized Israel as long as it controlled the high ground. Israel gained control of the biblical heights during the 1967 Six-Day War, and has developed the area since then.

In 2019, President Trump recognized Israeli sovereignty over the strategic plateau.

Saar definitively said, "In any peace agreement, the Golan will remain part of the State of Israel.”

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The Israel Defense Forces admit to killing civilians trying to get food at sites run by the U.S.-led Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. The IDF claims the killings were accidents that happened while trying to control chaotic crowds, and the soldiers were uncertain who were civilians and who were Hamas terrorists.

The State Department's Bruce pointed out that the IDF is trying to determine the cause.

"The IDF and Israel have announced that they are, of course, investigating certain incidents."

The IDF reports it has made changes around the food distribution sites to tamp down the chaos that has led to violent confrontations in recent days.

Meanwhile, Israel is blaming the United Nations, which wants to shut down the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, charging that the group fomented some of the chaos..

Israel's U.N. Ambassador Danny Danon insisted, "Many in the U.N. are actively spreading disinformation, promoted by Hamas-controlled sources, defaming the GHF's work and providing cover for further attacks."