In July, Trump called on Netanyahu to end the war “quickly” because Israel was “getting decimated with this publicity.”
US presidential candidate Donald Trump told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that he wanted an end to the Gaza war by the time he takes office, should he win the election, the Times of Israel has reported.
The paper, citing two sources familiar with the matter, said on Wednesday that the message was first relayed to Netanyahu when he met with Trump at his Florida residence in July.
Ahead of the meeting, Trump called on Israel to end the war “quickly” because Israel was “getting decimated with this publicity.”
However, the Times reports that this was the first time it was revealed that Trump had attached a timeline to that request.
Issue of Captives
One of the sources, a former US official, told the paper that Trump “wasn’t specific in his appeal to Netanyahu and could well back ‘residual’ IDF activity in Gaza,” as long as the war was officially ended.
The official “clarified that the pre-inauguration day victory that Trump wants Israel to secure in Gaza also includes the return of the hostages,” the paper added.
The report also cited two Israeli officials who had informed the paper earlier this month that they were concerned about Trump’s “repeated calls for Israel to end the Gaza war quickly.”
‘Internal Political Constraints’
One of the officials, from the security establishment, told the paper there were “internal political constraints to ending the war quickly.”
Trump Urges ‘Quick’ End to Israel’s War on Gaza, Cites Bad ‘Publicity’
The official would not elaborate, but the paper said, his comment was an apparent reference to the makeup of Netanyahu’s coalition, “which includes far-right elements who have opposed hostage deal proposals conditioned on a permanent ceasefire in Gaza.”
A second Israeli official said the role of the Palestinian Authority in the governance of Gaza was another contentious issue since the concern was not allowing Hamas to regain control of areas where the Israeli army has withdrawn.
‘Fight with Trump’
The paper also cited an anonymous politician from the Israeli opposition who said “A fight with Trump is something he hasn’t really had to deal with, and I think it’s something he’d want to avoid, but (Finance Minister Bezalel) Smotrich and (National Security Minister Itamar) Ben Gvir may not let him.”
Netanyahu requires the support of the far-right ministers, Smotrich and Ben Gvir, to remain in power, the report added.
Ongoing Genocide
Flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire, Israel has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza.
Currently on trial before the International Court of Justice for genocide against Palestinians, Israel has been waging a devastating war on Gaza since October 7.
In her address to the UN General Assembly’s Third Committee, UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese expressed frustration, saying, “I always experience a sense of shock and delusion when I come to this room because many of you recite the same script you had last year.”
“Is it… pic.twitter.com/fn7ej30F9R
— The Palestine Chronicle (@PalestineChron) October 31, 2024
According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, 43,204 Palestinians have been killed, and 101,641 wounded in Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza starting on October 7, 2023.
Moreover, at least 11,000 people are unaccounted for, presumed dead under the rubble of their homes throughout the Strip.
Israel says that 1,200 soldiers and civilians were killed during the Al-Aqsa Flood Operation on October 7. Israeli media published reports suggesting that many Israelis were killed on that day by ‘friendly fire’.
Millions Displaced
Palestinian and international organizations say that the majority of those killed and wounded are women and children.
The Israeli war has resulted in an acute famine, mostly in northern Gaza, resulting in the death of many Palestinians, mostly children.
The Israeli aggression has also resulted in the forceful displacement of nearly two million people from all over the Gaza Strip, with the vast majority of the displaced forced into the densely crowded southern city of Rafah near the border with Egypt – in what has become Palestine’s largest mass exodus since the 1948 Nakba.
Later in the war, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians began moving from the south to central Gaza in a constant search for safety.
(The Palestine Chronicle)
