JERUSALEM/ANKARA

The US is reportedly urging Israel to finalize a ceasefire agreement with the Palestinian group Hamas in the Gaza Strip ahead of President Donald Trump’s expected visit to the Middle East in mid-May, Israeli daily Haaretz reported on Friday.

An unnamed source familiar with the discussions said the Trump administration views the deal as a matter of "great importance" and has communicated to Tel Aviv that “if Israel does not move forward together with the United States toward an agreement, it will be left on its own,” Haaretz reported.

The report also said the office of Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, who is leading negotiations and liaising with the US administration, declined to officially comment on the matter.

Trump is scheduled to begin his regional tour on May 13, with planned stops in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the UAE.

The daily also reported that the US envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, met earlier this week with families of the hostages and told them that “military pressure endangers the captives.”

The renewed diplomatic efforts come as tensions remain high in the region, with growing international calls for a sustained ceasefire and a political resolution to the war.

Nearly 52,800 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza in a brutal Israeli onslaught since October 2023, most of them women and children.

The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants last November for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.