US President Donald Trump is pressing Israel and Hamas to seal a settlement to the two-year conflict that’s devastated Gaza, with the warring sides set to have mediated talks today.
The first sign of whether the negotiations, being hosted by Egypt, are serious will be whether Hamas follows through on Trump’s demand to release all the remaining hostages, including those who died, in return for Israel releasing Palestinian prisoners.
Meanwhile, Trump – who has laid out a 20-point plan to end the war – has made it clear that he is losing patience with both Hamas and Israel, even as the militant group has yet to accept the full proposal, which would include its ultimate disarmament.
US President Donald Trump is pressing Israel and Hamas to seal a settlement to the two-year conflict that’s devastated Gaza.Credit: AP
Trump called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the weekend to celebrate Hamas’ apparent willingness to release the hostages, Axios reported, but Netanyahu complained the Hamas offer was meaningless.
Trump, according to the report, snapped at Netanyahu, saying, “I don’t know why you’re always so f***ing negative. This is a win. Take it”.
US special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner are travelling to Egypt to take part in the talks, which will be held in Sharm el-Sheikh. An Israeli delegation is set to take part in the indirect talks with Hamas.
“It’ll last a couple of days,” Trump said. “We’ll see how it turns out but I hear it’s going very well.”
Bloomberg
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