US envoy Witkoff said heading to region to oversee diplomacy; Dermer to head Israeli team; negotiators said preparing withdrawal maps, lists of Palestinian prisoners to be freed.
The Israel Defense Forces was ordered to halt its offensive to capture Gaza City on Saturday after US President Donald Trump said his Gaza truce plan was accepted by Hamas and called on Israel to stop bombing the Strip. The military was still engaged in defensive operations and warned Palestinians not to try to return to the besieged city, saying it remained a “dangerous war zone.”
The order by the political echelon came as Israel prepared to dispatch ceasefire-hostage negotiators, with reports saying that talks could start as soon as Sunday, in Cairo or in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh. US Middle East Envoy Steve Witkoff was said to be heading to the region.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was said to regard Hamas’s response as ‘mainly negative,’ but saw no option other than to go along with Trump’s efforts. The Times of Israel learned that the order to the IDF was issued after overnight talks between Israeli and US officials and called for military activities to be reduced to a minimum, with troops on the ground strictly carrying out defensive operations, including strikes against threats to forces.
Troops continue to encircle Gaza City. The meaning of the order is that Israeli troops operating in Gaza City would not be advancing further, but would not be withdrawing either. The IDF dispatched additional Israeli Air Force drones to monitor the area to ensure troops do not come under attack amid the pause in offensive activity. (Read more)
