The latest ceasefire agreement is very similar to previous proposals, Adel Abdel Ghafar, the director of the Foreign Policy Program at the Middle East Council on Global Affairs, told Al Jazeera.

The Israelis don’t want to budge on some of the key demands, such as to remove Hamas and control the food distribution completely in the Gaza Strip, he said.

“It seems that Netanyahu is in this perpetual war mode because if he ends the war, he will be legally liable in his own country,” he said referring to corruption charges the Israeli PM is facing.

Ghafar said that despite Netanyahu’s stance, Trump could prove more persuasive than any developments in Doha, where Israeli negotiators are to hold indirect talks with Hamas.

“Trump would want to announce and be part of the ceasefire, to highlight that he is part of the solution,” Ghafar said.

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