Smoke rises in Gaza, as seen from the Israeli side of the border, July 5, 2025. REUTERS/Amir Cohen Purchase Licensing Rights , opens new tab

Item 1 of 2 Smoke rises in Gaza, as seen from the Israeli side of the border, July 5, 2025. REUTERS/Amir Cohen

July 5 (Reuters) – Israel will send a delegation to Qatar on Sunday for talks on a possible Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal, although Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said the changes requested by Hamas to a ceasefire proposal were unacceptable.

Palestinian group Hamas said on Friday it had responded to a U.S.-backed Gaza ceasefire proposal in a “positive spirit”, a few days after U.S. President Donald Trump said Israel had agreed “to the necessary conditions to finalize” a 60-day truce.

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But in a sign of the potential challenges still facing the two sides, a Palestinian official from a militant group allied with Hamas said concerns remained over humanitarian aid, passage through the Rafah crossing in southern Israel to Egypt and clarity over a timetable for Israeli troop withdrawals.

“The changes that Hamas seeks to make to the Qatari proposal were conveyed to us last night and are not acceptable to Israel,” Netanyahu’s office said in a statement late on Saturday.

The prime minister’s office added that the delegation will still fly to Qatar for talks over a possible deal to “continue the efforts to secure the return of our hostages based on the Qatari proposal that Israel agreed to.”

Netanyahu, who is due to meet Trump in Washington on Monday, has repeatedly said Hamas must be disarmed, a position the militant group, which is thought to be holding 20 living hostages, has so far refused to discuss.

The latest bloodshed in the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict was triggered on October 7, 2023, when Hamas attacked southern Israel, killing around 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.

Gaza’s health ministry says Israel’s retaliatory military assault on the enclave has killed over 57,000 Palestinians. It has also caused a hunger crisis, displaced Gaza’s entire population internally and prompted accusations of genocide and war crimes. Israel denies the accusations.

Reporting by Emily Rose, writing by Hatem Maher; Editing by Sharon Singleton and Alistair Bell

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‘I may do it. I may not do it,’ Trump says on joining attacks

Netanyahu says Israel ‘progressing step by step’ towards eliminating Iranian nuclear, missile threats

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WASHINGTON/DUBAI/JERUSALEM, June 18 (Reuters) – President Donald Trump kept the world guessing about whether the United States will join Israel’s bombardment of Iranian nuclear sites as the Israel-Iran conflict entered its seventh day on Thursday.

Speaking to reporters outside the White House, Trump declined to say if he had made any decision on whether to join Israel’s campaign . “I may do it. I may not do it. I mean, nobody knows what I’m going to do,” he said.

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Trump in later remarks said Iranian officials wanted to come to Washington for a meeting and that “we may do that.” But he added, “It’s a little late” for such talks.

The foreign ministers of Germany, France and Britain plan to hold nuclear talks with their Iranian counterpart on Friday in Geneva aimed at persuading Iran to firmly guarantee that it will use its nuclear program solely for civilian purposes, a German diplomatic source told Reuters.

But while diplomatic efforts continue, some residents of Tehran, a city of 10 million people, on Wednesday jammed highways out of the city as they sought sanctuary from intensified Israeli airstrikes

The Wall Street Journal said Trump had told senior aides he approved attack plans on Iran but was holding off on giving the final order to see if Tehran would abandon its nuclear program.

Asked if he thought the Iranian government could fall as a result of the Israeli campaign, Trump said: “Sure, anything could happen.”

Referring to the destruction or dismantling of Iran’s Fordow nuclear enrichment center, Trump said: “We’re the only ones that have the capability to do it. But that doesn’t mean I’m going to do it – at all.”

Military analysts believe that Israel might need U.S. military help to destroy Fordow, dug beneath a mountain near the city of Qom.

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei , 86, rebuked Trump in a recorded speech played on television, his first appearance since Friday.

The Americans “should know that any U.S. military intervention will undoubtedly be accompanied by irreparable damage,” he said. “The Iranian nation will not surrender.”

In its latest bombings, Israel said its air force destroyed Iran’s police headquarters.

Israel’s military said sirens sounded in northern Israel just before 2 a.m. local time on Thursday (23:00 GMT on Wednesday) and that it had intercepted a drone launched from Iran. It said several minutes later that another drone was intercepted in the Jordan Valley area.

The Iranian missile salvoes mark the first time in decades of shadow war and proxy conflict that a significant number of projectiles fired from Iran have penetrated defences, killing Israelis in their homes.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in a video released by his office on Wednesday, said Israel was “progressing step by step” towards eliminating threats posed by Iran’s nuclear sites and ballistic missile arsenal.

“We are hitting the nuclear sites, the missiles, the headquarters, the symbols of the regime,” Netanyahu said.

Israel, which is not a party to the international Non-Proliferation Treaty, is the only country in the Middle East believed to have nuclear weapons. Israel does not deny or confirm that.

Netanyahu also thanked Trump, “a great friend of the state of Israel”, for standing by its side in the conflict, saying the two were in continuous contact.

Item 1 of 21 A destroyed drone, which the Iranian Army says belongs to Israel, is seen in Isfahan, Iran, in this handout image obtained on June 18, 2025. Iranian Army/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS [1/21] A destroyed drone, which the Iranian Army says belongs to Israel, is seen in Isfahan, Iran, in this handout image obtained on June 18, 2025. Iranian Army/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS Purchase Licensing Rights , opens new tab

Trump has veered from proposing a swift diplomatic end to the war to suggesting the United States might join it.

In social media posts on Tuesday, he mused about killing Khamenei.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, asked what his reaction would be if Israel did kill Iran’s Supreme Leader with the assistance of the United States, said on Thursday: “I do not even want to discuss this possibility. I do not want to.”

A source familiar with internal discussions said Trump and his team were considering options that included joining Israel in strikes against Iranian nuclear installations

Iran’s mission to the United Nations mocked Trump in posts on X, describing him as “a has-been warmonger clinging to relevance.”

Israel’s military said scores of Israeli jets had struck targets in and around Tehran and in western Iran in the previous 24 hours in three waves, hitting sites producing raw materials, components and manufacturing systems for missiles.

FLEEING TEHRAN

Arezou, a 31-year-old Tehran resident, told Reuters by phone that she had made it out of the city to the nearby resort town of Lavasan.

“My friend’s house in Tehran was attacked and her brother was injured. They are civilians,” she said. “Why are we paying the price for the regime’s decision to pursue a nuclear programme?”

In Israel, sirens rang out anew at dusk on Wednesday warning of further incoming Iranian missiles. A motorist was injured by missile debris, Israeli medics said. The army later advised civilians they could leave protected areas, signalling the threat had passed.

At Ramat Gan train station east of Tel Aviv, people were lying on city-supplied mattresses or sitting in the odd camping chair, with plastic water bottles strewn about.

“I feel scared, overwhelmed. Especially because I live in a densely populated area that Iran seems to be targeting, and our city has very old buildings, without shelters and safe spaces,” said Tamar Weiss, clutching her four-month-old daughter.

Iran has reported at least 224 deaths in Israeli attacks, mostly civilians, but has not updated that toll for days.

Since Friday, Iran has fired around 400 missiles at Israel, some 40 of which have pierced air defences, killing 24 people, all of them civilians, according to Israeli authorities.

LEVERAGE

Iran has been exploring options for leverage, including veiled threats to hit the global oil market by restricting access to the Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz, the world’s most important shipping artery for oil.

Inside Iran, authorities are intent on preventing panic and shortages. Fewer images of destruction have been allowed to circulate than in the early days of the bombing, when state media showed pictures of explosions, fires and flattened apartments. A ban on filming by the public has been imposed.

The communications ministry said on Wednesday that temporary restrictions on internet access would be imposed to help prevent “the enemy from threatening citizens’ lives and property”.

Iran’s ability to hit back hard at Israel through strikes by proxy militia close to Israeli borders has been limited by the devastating blows Israel has dealt to Tehran’s regional allies – Hamas and Hezbollah – in conflicts in Gaza and Lebanon since 2023.

Reporting by Reuters; Writing by Alistair Bell and Costas Pitas; Editing by Daniel Wallis, Deepa Babington and Diane Craft

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German Chancellor Friedrich Merz walks with his wife Charlotte to board a German Air Force aircraft, for the upcoming G7 summit in Canada, at Berlin-Brandenburg Airport, in Berlin, Germany, June 15, 2025. REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch Purchase Licensing Rights , opens new tab

Item 1 of 2 German Chancellor Friedrich Merz walks with his wife Charlotte to board a German Air Force aircraft, for the upcoming G7 summit in Canada, at Berlin-Brandenburg Airport, in Berlin, Germany, June 15, 2025. REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch

BERLIN, June 15 (Reuters) – German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Sunday he hoped an upcoming meeting of the Group of Seven countries would show unity and could reach agreement on four key points to help resolve the conflict between Israel and Iran.

Speaking as he prepared to fly to Canada for the G7 summit, Merz said the Middle East conflict would be high on the agenda.

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The four points were: that Iran cannot develop or posses nuclear weapons; that Israel has the right to defend itself against existential threats, which he said Iran’s nuclear programme represented; thirdly, the conflict should not escalate; and fourth, that scope for diplomacy must be created.

“I would like to add that in Germany we are also getting ready in case Iran should target Israeli or Jewish targets in Germany,” Merz told reporters, without going into more detail.

G7 leaders gather for a summit in the Canadian Rockies starting on Sunday until Tuesday.

Merz said that Israel had requested fire extinguishing material, which Germany would provide.

Germany’s defence minister, Boris Pistorius, told German state television ARD he had not discussed providing military aid to Israel with his Israeli counterpart, nor had he received any such requests. Nothing was being prepared, he added.

Separately, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said he had spoken with his Omani counterpart Badr Albusaidi on how Oman’s ties could help de-escalate tension in the region between Israel and Iran and Yemen’s Houthis.

Merz said the G7 would also discuss the war in Ukraine and that more pressure should be put on Russia to bring it to the negotiating table. To that end, European leaders wanted to agree new sanctions on Moscow at the end of this month, he said.

Merz said economic issues would also be on the agenda at the G7 summit, and said efforts would be directed towards reaching an agreement over tariffs following the Trump administration’s decision to impose them on its key trade partners earlier this year.

Writing by Dave Graham; Editing by Jan Harvey, David Holmes and Susan Fenton

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June 5 (Reuters) – The head of Hamas in Gaza, Khalil al-Hayya, said in a pre-recorded speech on Thursday the group had not rejected the latest U.S. proposal for a ceasefire with Israel but demanded changes that would secure the end of the war in the enclave.

The group was ready to engage in a new round of ceasefire talks, and communication with mediating countries was ongoing, he added. The latest U.S. proposal was came via President Donald Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff.

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“The movement (Hamas) didn’t reject the Witkoff proposal, but we have demanded some remarks and improvement to ensure an end to the war,” Hayya, who is also chief Hamas negotiator, said in a pre-recorded video speech.

Hayya reiterated demands for an end to the war and withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza, conditions Israel has rejected.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on May 31, that while his government had agreed to Witkoff’s outline, Hamas was continuing to reject the plan.

The proposal envisages a 60-day truce and the exchange of 28 of the 56 hostages still held in Gaza for more than 1,200 Palestinian prisoners and detainees, along with the entry of humanitarian aid into the enclave.

Hamas says it will only free the remaining hostages if Israel agrees to end the war, while Netanyahu vows war can only end once Hamas is disarmed and eliminated from Gaza.

Reporting by Nidal Al Mughrabi, Yomna Ehab and Enas Alashray; Editing by Cynthia Osterman

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Item 1 of 2 Palestinians evacuate in the aftermath of an Israeli strike on a house, in Gaza City, May 30, 2025. REUTERS/Ebrahim Hajjaj

CAIRO, May 31 (Reuters) – Hamas said on Saturday it had responded to a ceasefire proposal presented by U.S. President Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff to mediators and included a demand for an end to the war, which had previously been a red line for Israel.

The Palestinian group said in a statement that under the deal, it will release ten living hostages and 18 bodies in return for Israel’s release of a number of Palestinian prisoners, comments in line with Witkoff’s proposal.

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The Hamas statement added: “This proposal aims to achieve a permanent ceasefire, a comprehensive withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, and ensure the flow of aid to our people and our families in the Gaza Strip.”

It said its response came “after conducting a round of national consultations”.

The statement did not mention that it was seeking any changes in the proposal, but a Palestinian official familiar with the talks told Reuters that Hamas sought some amendments while its response was positive.

The Israeli Prime Minister’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Israeli media reported earlier this week that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the families of hostages held in Gaza that Israel had accepted the deal presented by Witkoff. The prime minister’s office declined to comment at the time.

Deep differences between Hamas and Israel have stymied previous attempts to restore a ceasefire that broke down in March.

Israel has insisted that Hamas disarm completely, be dismantled as a military and governing force and return all 58 hostages still held in Gaza before it will agree to end the war.

Hamas has rejected the demand to give up its weapons and says Israel must pull its troops out of Gaza and commit to ending the war.

Israel launched its campaign in Gaza in response to the Hamas attack in its south on October 7, 2023, that killed some 1,200 people and saw 251 Israelis taken hostage into Gaza, according to Israeli tallies.

The subsequent Israeli military campaign has killed more than 54,000 Palestinians, Gaza health officials say, and has left the enclave in ruins.

Reporting by Nidal Al-Mughrabi and Menna Alaa El-Din; editing by Philippa Fletcher

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