Israeli Foreign Minister says government majority supports truce in Gaza

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar said Wednesday, July 2, that there is "a large majority within the government and the population" in favor of the plan to "free the hostages" held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip, after US President Donald Trump announced that Israel had accepted a ceasefire proposal.

"There is a large majority in the government and among the population in favor of the hostage release plan ," the minister wrote on his X account. "If an opportunity presents itself, it should not be missed!" he added.

The plan, according to US media, calls for a 60-day ceasefire by Israel in exchange for the release of 10 live hostages and the return of the bodies of another 15 , half of the hostages still held in the enclave.

Trump presented the proposal on Tuesday as a new step toward peace in the Strip , although it is actually a slightly modified version of the plan that the U.S. special envoy

Hamas, which never officially rejected the proposal, continues to maintain that its conditions for ending the war include a definitive end to the fighting.

The initiative has now returned to public debate days before Trump is scheduled to host Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House, following the US-brokered truce between Israel and Iran that ended the hostilities of the past two weeks.

Since the start of the war in Gaza in October 2023, following the Hamas attack on Israeli soil that left some 1,200 dead and 251 kidnapped, more than 56,600 Palestinians have died in Gaza due to the incessant bombing and attacks by the Israeli army, according to local health authorities.