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JERUSALEM — The Israeli military issued broad evacuation orders Sunday for neighborhoods of Gaza City, in the Gaza Strip, amid growing calls for a ceasefire deal from President Donald Trump.
The notifications for people to leave parts of Gaza City, where Israeli troops have refrained from operating for months, as well as other areas in northern Gaza, came as the Israeli military warned that it would intensify operations that would expand west toward the city center. Residents were instructed to move south.
It was not clear if the military’s evacuation orders heralded a new phase in its offensive, a return to areas that were partly destroyed in previous rounds of fighting, or if they could be a pressure tactic to try to get Hamas to concede to Israel’s terms for ending the war.
Attention in Israel and Washington has refocused on Gaza since Israel’s 12-day war with Iran ended Tuesday. The military campaign in Gaza — which was ignited by the Hamas-led October 2023 attack on Israel — has lasted more than 630 days and is one of Israel’s most protracted and deadliest wars.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is facing increasing pressure at home to end the conflict by agreeing to a ceasefire deal that would see Hamas release the hostages still being held in the enclave. Those hostages include up to 20 people who were taken captive in the October 2023 attack and are believed to still be alive, along with the remains of about 30 others.
Trump on Sunday publicly pressed for a deal. “MAKE THE DEAL IN GAZA. GET THE HOSTAGES BACK!!! DJT,” he wrote on social media.
Later on Sunday, Netanyahu told a group of workers for the Shin Bet, the country’s internal security agency, that Israel’s campaign in Iran had “opened up many opportunities, first among them to rescue the hostages.” Israel still must “resolve the Gaza issue and defeat Hamas,” he said, adding, “I believe that we will succeed in both these missions.”
Trump had suggested Friday that there could be an agreement between Israel and Hamas within a week. But Trump has offered no details on what may have changed, and analysts said it was unclear what his claim was based on.
There has been no advancement in the ceasefire talks, according to an Israeli official and another person familiar with the matter.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
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