One report claims deal is imminent, despite mediators saying no progress made in Cairo talks; PM said hoping to receive pardon in criminal graft trial as part of agreement

US President Donald Trump is pushing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to conclude the 20-month-old war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip following the success of the 12-day war against Iran, several Hebrew media outlets reported Thursday, amid calls in Israel for the same.

The Kan public broadcaster reported that Trump’s demand to cancel Netanyahu’s criminal trial was also linked to this effort.

The report said that an unnamed senior Israeli official close to Netanyahu had said Trump’s Truth Social post demanding that Netanyahu no longer be forced to stand trial on multiple criminal charges “wasn’t sent out for no reason.”

“It is part of a larger move that is meant to bring an end to the war in Gaza, the release of all the hostages, an end to Netanyahu’s trial, and a serious regional move,” said the official.

According to the source, Trump published the statement “to prepare public opinion in Israel for a pardon process for Netanyahu.”

The Kan report said coalition members were planning to utilize Trump’s tweet in order to advance legislation or processes that would lead to the cancellation of Netanyahu’s trial. It cited potential efforts to advance a so-called “French law” under which a serving prime minister could not be prosecuted; canceling the offense of breach of trust, one of the charges against Netanyahu in all three of the cases he is battling; and seeking a presidential pardon.

The report’s publication coincided with a Channel 12 report that said Netanyahu’s lawyer was involved in a recent, failed effort to arrange a plea bargain for him.

It was unclear from the Kan report how the cancellation of Netanyahu’s trial would be integrated into a regional deal, or indeed whether such a move would even be possible.

Yet at the same time, mediators involved in the ongoing ceasefire and hostage deal negotiations between Israel and Hamas said Thursday there had yet to be any breakthrough in that regard, and that there wouldn’t be one unless both sides started taking negotiations in Cairo more seriously.

Meanwhile, the Israel Hayom newspaper reported that as part of the American president’s plan to end the war, new countries would join the Abraham Accords, and Israel would be required to commit to supporting a future Palestinian state.

According to the outlet, Trump brought up the matter of ending the war during a “euphoric” phone call with Netanyahu late on Monday, following the US’s weekend strikes on Iran’s underground nuclear facilities.

The two leaders were joined on the call by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, said the outlet.

Citing an unnamed source familiar with the conversation, the newspaper reported that during the phone call, the two leaders agreed to wrap up the war in Gaza within two weeks, requiring Israel to halt its military offensive and Hamas to release the remaining 50 hostages.

The Palestinian terror group’s leadership would then be exiled, and four Arab states, including the UAE and Egypt, would be tasked with jointly governing the war-torn enclave in its place, the report said. It did not identify the other two Arab states that would supposedly govern the territory.

As part of the rehabilitation of the Strip, any Gazans wishing to emigrate would be absorbed by several unnamed countries, Israel Hayom said.

Netanyahu’s office denied the Israel Hayom report. “The conversation that’s described in the article in Israel Hayom did not take place,” it said. “Israel was not presented with the political proposal supposedly described in the article, and it obviously did not agree to it.”

Arab states have repeatedly asserted that they will not take part in the postwar rehabilitation of Gaza absent Israeli acquiescence to the Palestinian Authority gaining a foothold in the Strip as part of a pathway to a future two-state solution, a demand that, until now, Netanyahu has flatly rejected.

Moreover, Hamas’s leaders have also long rejected demands to go into exile.

As part of the plan, Trump and Netanyahu were said to have agreed that Israel would be required to express support for a future two-state solution, conditioned on reforms made by the Palestinian Authority. In exchange, Washington would recognize Israeli sovereignty in some parts of the West Bank.

With the end of the war in Gaza and a renewed Israeli commitment to a future two-state solution, both Saudi Arabia and Syria would establish ties with Israel under the Abraham Accords, the report stated, and other Arab and Muslim countries would follow suit.

Saudi Arabia has long conditioned the establishment of diplomatic ties on Israel’s commitment to Palestinian statehood, while the possibility of peace with Syria has been raised repeatedly in recent months as the two countries are reportedly in direct contact following the fall of the Assad regime last year.

Prior to Israel’s 12-day war with Iran and Israel’s extensive blows to the country’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs, Trump was said to be pushing Netanyahu to end the war in Gaza.

Now, with the ceasefire there holding, he has resumed these efforts, two unnamed political sources told Israel Hayom. Another source denied this to the outlet, saying they weren’t familiar with any pressure.

The heady plan for the future of Gaza, Israel, and the wider region explained Trump’s fury over Israel’s planned retaliation to Iran’s violation of the nascent ceasefire on Tuesday, the report claimed, as well as his Truth Social post on Thursday demanding an end to the premier’s corruption trial.

Trump’s apparent demand for Israel to wrap up its war in Gaza following the successful Iran offensive is being increasingly echoed in Israel, including by President Isaac Herzog.

Speaking at the funeral of slain hostage Ofra Keidar, whose body was recovered from Gaza earlier this week, Herzog urged Netanyahu and the country’s top decision makers to act at this “key moment” following the war with Iran and secure a deal to bring home the remaining hostages.

“Send all the teams, at the most senior levels, talk to everyone you need to talk to, keep working in every way and with all your might until they return to us,” the president demanded.

This call was picked up by relatives of the hostages as well, who told reporters during a virtual press conference on Thursday that with the ceasefire in Iran, a renewed push for a hostage deal must come next.

“There’s this amazing success that Israel just had in Iran and we need to leverage that,” said Dalia Cusnir-Horn, whose brother-in-law, Eitan Horn, is still held hostage in Gaza. Eitan’s brother, Iair Horn, was released in February.

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