Republican US presidential nominee Donald Trump said on Thursday he told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to bring a quick end to Israel’s war in Gaza during their last meeting in July, but the former president also criticised his demand for a ceasefire.
“He knows what he’s doing, I encouraged him to end it,” Trump told reporters at a press conference on Thursday. “It has to end quickly. … Get your victory and get it over with. It has to stop, the killing has to stop.”
Trump was referring to his meeting with Netanyahu at his Mar-a-Lago residence in late July when Netanyahu visited the United States. During his visit, he also met President Joe Biden and Vice President and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris.
The recent assassinations of Ismail Haniyeh, the leader of the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in Iran, and Hezbollah military commander Fuad Shukr in Beirut have raised the risk of a wider war in the Middle East. Both have threatened retaliation against Israel.
At an event on Thursday on combating anti-Semitism, Trump criticized Biden and Harris’ months-long call for a ceasefire in Gaza.
“From the beginning, Harris has worked to tie Israel’s hands behind its back, demanding an immediate ceasefire, always demanding a ceasefire,” Trump said, adding that this would “give Hamas time to regroup and launch a new October 7th-style attack.”
“I will give Israel the support they need to win, but I want them to win fast,” Trump said.
At the same event, Trump labeled Palestinian supporters who called for an end to US support for Israel’s war as “pro-Hamas hooligans” and “pro-jihadists”. He threatened to have them arrested and deported from the US if he became president.
Both Netanyahu’s office and Trump on Thursday denied an Axios report that they had negotiated a Gaza ceasefire and the release of hostages the previous day.
Biden proposed a three-phase ceasefire in his address on May 31. Washington and regional mediators have since tried to arrange a Gaza ceasefire deal for the hostages but have repeatedly faced obstacles.
The Axios report cited two US sources. One source said the alleged call was aimed at encouraging Netanyahu to accept the deal, but stressed he did not know if that was what the former president actually said to Netanyahu.
Egypt, the United States and Qatar have scheduled a new round of Gaza ceasefire talks this week.
Washington, Israel’s most important ally, has said a ceasefire in Gaza would reduce the risk of a wider war.
The latest bloodshed in the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict began on October 7 when Hamas attacked Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostages, Israeli figures show.
Israel’s assault on Hamas-ruled territory has killed more than 40,000 Palestinians, according to the local health ministry, while almost the entire population of 2.3 million has been displaced, leading to a starvation crisis and World Court charges of genocide, which Israel denies.
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