Egypt calls for pressure on Israel to agree to ceasefire
Egypt’s Foreign Minister Badr Abdel Aty has called for pressure on Israel to accept the ceasefire proposal.
“The ball is in Israel’s court, and it must be pressured to agree to the proposal which would help mitigate the repercussions of the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza.”
Netanyahu will only agree to ceasefire in ‘very, very exceptional circumstance’
With Israel still not responding to the ceasefire deal that was accepted by Hamas, Al Jazeera’s senior political analyst, Marwan Bishara, says Netanyahu has calculated that it’s no longer in “interest” to agree to a partial ceasefire.
“I think for him [Netanyahu] he is winning the war, for him Hamas is on the way to defeat, for him there’s a green light from Washington, and I just don’t think, except in a very, very exceptional circumstance, that he will agree,” Bishara explained.
Bishara added that there’s an “urgency” in his response, not just for the ceasefire or the future of Gaza, but no less than six Arab leaders of “hefty Arab countries” are going to the US tomorrow over the need for a ceasefire and hope to influence Trump to push Netanyahu to that decision.
“I think Netanyahu will do what Netanyahu wants to do for his government and for what he sees as Israel’s best interest. Palestinian rights and Palestinian lives don’t matter,” Bishara said.
White House says US discussing latest ceasefire proposal
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt says US officials are continuing to discuss the ceasefire proposal that we have been reporting on.
https://www.cnn.com/2025/08/18/middleeast/hamas-israel-gaza-ceasefire-proposal-intl-latam
The proposal entails a ceasefire during which Israeli forces redeploy to the lines specified in the Witkoff proposal, while humanitarian aid flows intensively to meet the basic needs of the population in Gaza.
This step opens the way to reaching a comprehensive agreement in the best possible manner without endangering the lives of the hostages through further intense military operations and avoiding a worsening of the humanitarian situation for the people of Gaza, who are already suffering greatly, the diplomat said. It also marks the beginning of the road to a comprehensive solution, the diplomat added.
A regional source involved in the Gaza talks told CNN that Hamas “insists” on “written American guarantees” for a ceasefire “after 60 days.” Hamas wants the US to ensure that Israel does not return to war, the source told CNN. The most recent ceasefire negotiations, which fell apart in July, focused on a 60-day ceasefire and the release of approximately half of the remaining 50 hostages.
So still the same issue, Hamas wants guarantees to end the genocide, Netanyahu wants guarantees to be able to continue the genocide.
