US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he will be “very firm” with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the need to end the war in Gaza when the premier visits Washington next week.

Speaking to reporters, Trump also said that Netanyahu “wants it too,” referring to a hostage-ceasefire deal that would bring an end to the Gaza war.

Earlier Tuesday, the president repeated his prediction that a ceasefire and hostage release deal would be reached shortly. “I think we’ll have a deal next week,” he said.

He also said he and Netanyahu will discuss Gaza and “the great success we had with Iran,” adding: “We want to get the hostages back.”

The US president’s comments followed Netanyahu’s announcement on Monday that he will visit Washington, DC next week to meet with Trump.

The prime minister is set to take off for the US capital on Saturday and meet with Trump on Monday, July 7. On Tuesday, leading up to that trip, discussions took place in the Prime Minister’s Office over attempts to reach a hostage release deal with Hamas, with reports of some progress.

“There is a positive dynamic and lively activity on the issue of negotiations,” a senior official told The Times of Israel.

After Trump asserted to reporters that Netanyahu also wanted to see a ceasefire and hostage release deal come to fruition, Israeli cabinet members told Channel 12 on Tuesday evening that, for the first time, the premier was showing signs that he would prefer a deal to end the war in Gaza soon.

The report suggested that indirect talks with Hamas could restart in the coming days, while Netanyahu is in the US.

There is real, tangible US pressure on Qatar, and Qatari pressure on Hamas, Israeli officials told Channel 12. “We are more optimistic. There are solutions being put together, and more positive approach to moving forward,” said an official.

According to the outlet, Israel is showing more flexibility about the wording on the end of the war than it had previously done.

The report came after a cabinet meeting on the Gaza war earlier on Tuesday, during which IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir was said to have engaged in a spirited debate with Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir over the future of the campaign.

Zamir told the two ultranationalist ministers that “Hamas is dead,” with the proof being that it fired only one rocket during the recent 12-day war with Iran, the report said, adding that the two ministers had, in turn, pushed for a more aggressive implementation of Trump’s relocation plan for Gazans.

He was also said to have dismissed their hopes for conquering the entire Gaza Strip, telling them it would endanger the lives of the hostages and would lead to possible violations of international law.

During the debate, according to the outlet, Netanyahu insisted that the war would not end before Hamas is defeated. However, it added, the premier could define a defeat of Hamas in a way that allows him to end the war in the coming weeks.

Netanyahu said at a cabinet meeting on Monday that he will also meet with Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, US Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and senior lawmakers.

Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, who is currently in Washington ahead of Netanyahu’s visit, was slated to meet with Witkoff, Rubio and Vance.

Hostage-ceasefire talks are being mediated by Witkoff, whose latest proposal, the authenticity of which was confirmed to The Times of Israel by two sources familiar with the negotiations, would see Hamas release 10 living Israeli hostages held in Gaza and return the bodies of 18 deceased hostages during a 60-day ceasefire. The rest of the hostages would be released if a permanent ceasefire is reached.

Hamas sources told the London-based Al-Sharq Al-Awsat that the group’s response to Witkoff’s deal proposal was generally positive, though with conditions.

A source directly involved in the negotiations told The Times of Israel that Hamas’s response included a demand that makes it more difficult for Israel to resume fighting if talks on a permanent ceasefire are not completed by the end of the 60-day truce.

The source said there were other changes the terror group wanted to make to the Witkoff proposal, adding that it would require a more drawn-out negotiation process.

The updated proposal submitted by Hamas envisions the release of the 10 hostages being more spread out throughout the truce, rather than in two batches on the first and seventh days, as the US offer envisioned.

The source said this change was aimed at preventing Netanyahu from abandoning talks on a permanent ceasefire after the hostages are released, or refusing to engage in them altogether, as he did during the previous ceasefire in January.

Netanyahu told hostages’ families in May that he approved of Witkoff’s proposal in principle.

Terror groups in the Gaza Strip are holding 50 hostages, including 49 of the 251 abducted by Hamas-led terrorists on October 7, 2023. They include the bodies of at least 28 confirmed dead by the IDF. Twenty are believed to be alive and there are grave concerns for the well-being of two others, Israeli officials have said. Hamas is also holding the body of an IDF soldier killed in Gaza in 2014.