ConflictsMiddle East
Middle East updates: Trump says Hamas wants ceasefire
John Silk with AP, AFP, Reuters, dpaPublished 07/08/2025Published July 8, 2025last updated 07/08/2025last updated July 8, 2025
https://p.dw.com/p/4x6O2Netanyahu is pushing for Trump to get a Nobel Peace PrizeImage: Alex Brandon/AP Photo/picture allianceSkip next section What you need to know
What you need to know
- Benjamin Netanyahu keen for Donald Trump to get a Nobel Peace Prize
- Netanyahu is on a trip to Washington
- The Israeli PM said he was against the creation of a Palestinian state
Here you can read the headlines from around Gaza, Israel and the wider Middle East on Tuesday, July 8.
Skip next section WATCH — Former Israeli reservists speak out against Gaza war07/08/2025July 8, 2025
WATCH — Former Israeli reservists speak out against Gaza war
DW has met two former Israeli reservists who served in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) after the war in Gaza began, but refuse to continue fighting.
Pressing on with the war only serves the “political survival” of the Netanyahu government, they say.
Former Israeli reservists speak out against Gaza war
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https://p.dw.com/p/4x6VUSkip next section Netanyahu nominates Trump for Nobel Peace Prize, hails attacks on Iran07/08/2025July 8, 2025
Netanyahu nominates Trump for Nobel Peace Prize, hails attacks on Iran
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Donald Trump on Monday that he was nominating the US president for a Nobel Peace Prize as the pair hailed their recent strikes on Iran’s key nuclear facilities.
Netanyahu and Trump sat down with their top aides for a dinner in Washington to mark the Iran operation and discuss a 60-day ceasefire proposal aimed at halting the 21-month conflict in Gaza.
“He’s forging peace as we speak, and one country and one region after the other,” Netanyahu said as he presented Trump with a nominating letter, adding that he is sending it to the Nobel Peace Prize committee.
The development comes after Trump ordered US forces to drop “bunker-buster” bombs and fire a barrage of Tomahawk missiles on three nuclear sites in Iran.
In an interview published on Monday, Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian said the US airstrikes so badly damaged nuclear facilities that Iranian authorities have not been able to access them.
Netanyahu’s outwardly triumphant visit to the White House, his third this year, is dogged by Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza and questions over how hard Trump will push for an end to the conflict.
But in an exchange before the dinner got underway, both Trump and Netanyahu expressed optimism that their success in Iran would mark a new era in the Middle East.
“I think things are going to be really settled down a lot in the Middle East,” Trump said. “And, they respect us and they respect Israel.”
Negotiations had started in April but were scuttled after Israel began its operations last month.
“We have scheduled Iran talks, and they want to,” Trump told reporters. “They want to talk.” He said last week that the talks would restart soon.
Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, sitting at the table with Trump, said the meeting would be soon, perhaps in a week, but Iran has yet to confirm the arrangement.
Is Middle East peace within reach with US involvement?
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https://p.dw.com/p/4x6OLSkip next section Netanyahu says against independent Palestinian state07/08/2025July 8, 2025
Netanyahu says against independent Palestinian state
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday he wanted peace with Palestinians, but described any future independent Palestinian state as a platform to destroy Israel.
Speaking in Washington, where he met with US President Donald Trump, Netanyahu described the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel from the Gaza Strip, where Hamas was in control, as evidence of what Palestinians would do with a state.
Trump said he didn’t know if a two-state solution was possible and passed the question over to Netanyahu, who said: “I think the Palestinians should have all the powers to govern themselves, but none of the powers to threaten us. That means a sovereign power, like overall security, will always remain in our hands.”
https://p.dw.com/p/4x6OTSkip next section Hamas wants ceasefire agreement — Trump07/08/2025July 8, 2025
Hamas wants ceasefire agreement — Trump
Donald Trump said late on Monday that Hamas is keen on having a ceasefire with Israel amid the ongoing Gaza conflict.
“They [Hamas] want to meet and they want to have that ceasefire,” Trump said at the start of a White House dinner with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff said there was an opportunity to reach an agreement quickly.
White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said that Witkoff “intends to travel to Doha later this week” to participate in the mediation talks.
Leavitt heaped praise on Qatar and Egypt for being “incredibly helpful partners in mediating these negotiations and discussions to bring peace to this region and end this conflict once and for all.”
https://p.dw.com/p/4x6OcSkip next section Welcome to our coverage07/08/2025July 8, 2025
Welcome to our coverage
John Silk | Saim Dušan Inayatullah Editor
Hello and welcome to DW’s coverage of developments in the Middle East on Tuesday, July 8, 2025.
US President Donald Trump said that he believed that Hamas wants to negotiate a ceasefire agreement with Israel.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he is nominating Trump for a Nobel Peace Prize as the two dined together in Washington.
The two leaders hailed recent joint attacks on Iran.
https://p.dw.com/p/4x6OJJohn Silk Editor and writer for English news, as well as the Culture and Asia Desks.@JSilkSend us your feedback
Sursa: DW