By Nidal al-Mughrabi and Alexander Cornwell
CAIRO/JERUSALEM (Reuters) -Israeli tanks thrust closer to the heart of Gaza City on Monday, pressing a ground offensive hours before talks between Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. President Donald Trump, who has hinted at a diplomatic breakthrough in a bid to end the war.
After nearly two years of failed diplomatic efforts, Washington presented a 21-point plan to Arab and Muslim states last week that calls for a permanent ceasefire and the release of remaining hostages.
Trump, who said last week that he believed a deal to end the fighting was close, promised "SOMETHING SPECIAL" on the eve of his meeting with Netanyahu.
"We have a real chance for GREATNESS IN THE MIDDLE EAST," he wrote on social media. "ALL ARE ON BOARD FOR SOMETHING SPECIAL, FIRST TIME EVER. WE WILL GET IT DONE!!!"
Still, there are signs of scepticism from Israel.
ISRAELI OFFICIALS RAISE CONCERNS
A source familiar with the discussions said Israeli officials had raised concerns with U.S. counterparts over the proposal, including over the proposed involvement of Palestinian security forces in Gaza after the war, a lack of clarity over whether Hamas officials would be expelled from the enclave, and over who would hold overall responsibility for Gaza's security.
Meanwhile, there was no let-up on the ground, where Israel has launched one of its biggest offensives of the war this month, an all-out assault on Gaza City, where Netanyahu says he aims to wipe out Hamas in its final redoubts.
Huda, a Palestinian woman sheltering in Deir Al Balah south of Gaza City with her two children, told Reuters that she worried Trump's latest peace plan was "going to be another disappointment".
"Trump has made promises in the past that all turned out to be fiction," she said by phone.
Abu Abdallah, sheltering with nearly two dozen family members in tents along the Gaza City coast, said the family was waiting until after the White House meeting before deciding whether to flee south.
"It is either peace or Gaza City would be wiped out, just like Rafah was," he said, referring to a southern city that Israel completely flattened earlier in the war.
ISRAEL SAYS OFFENSIVE WILL ERADICATE HAMAS
Israeli tanks advanced on Monday to within a few hundred metres from Gaza City's main Al Shifa Hospital, where doctors say hundreds of patients are still being treated despite Israeli orders to leave.
Health officials said tanks had also surrounded the area around nearby Al Helo hospital, where 90 patients were being treated including 12 babies in incubators. Medics said the hospital was shelled overnight.
Israel has said it will not halt fighting unless Hamas frees all hostages and permanently surrenders its weapons.
Hamas, which precipitated the war by attacking Israel nearly two years ago, says it is willing to free its hostages in return for an end to the war, but will not give up its arms as long as Palestinians are still fighting for a state. It has said it has yet to be shown any new U.S. peace proposal.
Hamas-led fighters killed around 1,200 people and captured 251 hostages in their October 2023 attack. More than 66,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel's assault, according to Gaza's health authorities.
PREVIOUS CEASEFIRE EFFORTS FELL APART
In Israel's latest offensive, troops have flattened Gaza City neighbourhoods, dynamiting buildings which they said were used by Hamas. Hundreds of thousands of residents have fled, though many say there is nowhere to go. Israel has told them to head south, where other cities have already been razed and much of the population is crammed into tented camps.
The military said in a Monday statement it was continuing to target militant groups to ensure the protection of Israeli civilians. Medics said the military had killed at least 18 people across Gaza on Monday, most of them in Gaza City.
Previous ceasefire efforts backed by the U.S. have fallen apart due to a failure to bridge the gaps between Israel and Hamas.
Netanyahu's far-right allies in the Israeli government want the war to continue until Hamas has been defeated. They have also called for the annexation of the West Bank, which Palestinians want for their future state.
But the Gaza City offensive is also a source of domestic political tension within Israel, where families of hostages say it is time to seek a peace deal to bring their loved ones home, and some accuse Netanyahu of prolonging the war.
The Hostages Families Forum, representing many relatives of those held captive in Gaza, sent a letter to Trump ahead of his meeting with Netanyahu, urging him not to allow anyone to sabotage the deal he is putting forward to end the Gaza war.
"The stakes are too high, and our families have waited too long for any interference to derail this progress," the letter said.
(Reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi in Cairo, Alex Cornwell in JerusalemEditing by Peter Graff)
