 "Palestinians search for casualties at the site of an overnight Israeli strike on a fuel station where displaced people shelter, in Gaza City. Reuters")
After 12 days of the Israel and Iran war, which also saw the US bombing Iranian nuclear sites on Saturday, an American-brokered ceasefire is holding, bringing tenuous peace to the region. The world has reacted to the truce between the two rival countries with hope and wariness with calls now growing even louder for a renewed push for a ceasefire to end the war in Gaza.
Shortly after US President Donald Trump announced that a ceasefire had been accepted, voices in Israel and abroad called for renewed focus on the war in the Gaza Strip, demanding the return of the hostages still held by Hamas.
Even Germany’s Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Tuesday said that “the moment has come” for a ceasefire in Gaza between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
The question is — Can Trump broker a ceasefire just as he did between Iran and Israel? And if he can, how soon can we expect it?
War in Gaza continues
Amid the Israel and Iran war, the firing didn’t abate in Gaza. A CNN report reveals that since June 13, when Israel began its bombing of Iran, more than 860 people in Gaza have been killed by Israeli fire. In fact, on Tuesday, seven Israeli soldiers were killed by a bomb attached to their armoured carrier in Khan Younis, as clashes continue in southern Gaza.
The Gaza health ministry has also noted that Israel’s military operation in the Strip has killed 56,077 people so far. This war was sparked by Hamas’ surprise attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, that killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took 251 others hostage.
Moreover, countless others have died as a result of poor living conditions, with the United Nations warning that a man-made famine is becoming increasingly likely in the territory. The world agency claims that the Jewish nation has weaponised aid — an increasing number of civilians are being killed while they access food supplies. More than 500 have been killed by the Israeli military seeking aid since May 27, reported the Gaza health ministry.
On Tuesday, the UN Office for the High Commissioner on Human Rights called Israel’s actions “a likely war crime.”
Calls grow louder for ceasefire in Gaza
As Trump announced the ceasefire between Israel and Iran on Tuesday, the calls for a truce in Gaza also rang louder with many calling on the US president to get both sides to agree to a peace deal.
The Hostage and Missing Families Forum, which comprises loved ones of the hostages held by Hamas, said in a statement Tuesday that the Israel-Iran “ceasefire agreement must expand to include Gaza. We call on the government to hold snap talks that will lead to the return of all the hostages and an end to the war.”
“After 12 days and nights in which the Israeli people could not sleep because of Iran, we can finally go back to not sleeping because of the hostages,” the statement continued, alluding to repeated nighttime ballistic missile attacks.
“Ending the operation in Iran without using it to return all the hostages would be a grave diplomatic failure,” the group added.
Israel’s opposition leader Yair Lapid also agreed that the Israel-Iran ceasefire was the right time for the hostages to be brought back. “And now Gaza. It’s time to [finish] there too. Return the hostages, and end the war. Israel needs to start rebuilding,” Lapid said in a statement.
Internationally, even German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, speaking to his country’s parliament on Tuesday, welcomed the announced ceasefire between Israel and Iran and said, “Today… the moment has come to conclude a ceasefire for Gaza.”
Trump reveals Gaza ceasefire ‘very close’
And reacting to calls for a Gaza ceasefire, US President Donald Trump on Wednesday admitted that progress was being made on the same.
“I think great progress is being made on Gaza,” Trump told reporters, adding that his special envoy Steve Witkoff had told him: “Gaza is very close.”
He further told reporters, “Because of this attack that we made (in Iran), I think we’re going to have some good news… Gaza’s very close.
Mediators intensifying Gaza ceasefire efforts
And it seems that the Israel-Iran ceasefire has spurred on the mediators to get a deal finalised between the Jewish nation and the Palestinian group. Qatar , which has played the role of mediator and helped secure the release of some hostages, said they were hoping for talks to resume in the next two days.
The Qatari prime minister said talks were “ongoing,” adding that Qatar and Egypt are in touch with both sides to try to find a “middle ground”. The Qatari foreign ministry spokesperson even said that mediators in the Gaza conflict are using “momentum” created by the ceasefire between Israel and Iran to restart the stalled negotiations. “This is the time now for President Trump to push for it and we believe he is sincere about it. … We are willing to help on that,” said the spokesperson to CNN.
Even Hamas officials have admitted that mediators have intensified efforts for a ceasefire. One Hamas authority told BBC that mediators were “engaged in intensive contacts aimed at reaching a ceasefire agreement”.
Hamas’s Taher al-Nunu told AFP, “Our communications with the brother mediators in Egypt and Qatar have not stopped and have intensified in recent hours.”
However, he admitted that Hamas had not received any new proposal. Earlier efforts on a ceasefire broke down in May when US envoy Steve Witkoff said that Hamas sought “totally unacceptable” amendments to a US proposal backed by Israel for a 60-day truce, during which half the living Israeli hostages and half of those who have died would be released.
A previous ceasefire-hostage deal collapsed on March 2, when its 42-day first phase ended amid Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s refusal to negotiate the second phase in which the IDF would have to fully withdraw from Gaza.
Notably, a Palestinian-American political activist, who has been mediating between the Trump administration and Hamas, was also quoted as saying that a Gaza ceasefire deal was possible “within days.”
Bishara Bahbah, in an interview with the Jordanian Al Ghad TV channel, said that he was optimistic about the chances for a deal following the ceasefire struck hours earlier between Israel and Iran, arguing that it put Gaza back atop the regional agenda.
With inputs from agencies