Former President Donald Trump told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that he wants the war in Gaza finished by the time he returns to office in January if he wins the election next week, according to a report in Israeli media.
The Republican presidential candidate reportedly made the demand when he hosted Netanyahu and his wife at his Mar-a-Lago resort in July, giving the primer his ideal date on when the war should conclude, an Israeli and former Trump official told the Times of Israel.
Trump added that before his inauguration day celebration, Israel must fully secure Gaza and return the 97 hostages still being held by Hamas, one of the sources said.
The former president gave Netanyahu a soft deadline for ending the war and suggested Israel could maintain troops in the area past January — so long as Israeli leaders officially declared an end to the conflict, according to the TOI.
The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to the report.
Trump has previously called on Netanyahu to wrap up the war while being critical of the Biden-Harris administration’s failure to secure a cease-fire and free the remaining hostages, which include seven Americans.
“He knows what he’s doing, I did encourage him to get this over with,” Trump told reporters in August.
“It has to get over with fast,” he added. “Get your victory and get it over with. It has to stop, the killing has to stop.”
Israeli quickly achieving its objectives in the Gaza Strip, however, remains unlikely as the Israel Defense Forces continue to struggle to eradicate Hamas from the Palestinian enclave.
Hamas terrorists have repeatedly resurfaced across Gaza, with remnants of its battalions returning twice to northern Gaza, where intense battles continue to break out with IDF troops on the ground.
The hostage negotiation talks, which have only recently gained traction after being frozen for months, still have a long way to go, as Hamas and Israel refuse to accept each others’ demands.
Hamas has repeatedly said it will only free the hostages if Israel agrees to a permanent end to the fighting, a demand Israel rejects as one of its main goals in the war is to destroy Hamas and ensure Gaza no longer poses a threat to the Jewish state.
Israel has also maintained that it would keep forces in Gaza to secure peace for the foreseeable future, with some right-wing officials calling for a controversial measure to establish Israeli settlements and a buffer zone inside the Strip.
