Israeli media has revealed that in a Monday phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Trump told the Israeli leader that he must permanently end the war in Gaza.
Trump is said to have conveyed that the conflict should end "the sooner the better"; however, there's been no indication that Trump is willing to use the major leverage he has of cutting off US military aid to enforce this.
The Israeli military is heavily reliant on American weapons for the war's execution, as well as maintaining readiness against other regional threats like the Houthis out of Yemen or Hezbollah in Lebanon.
The phone call reportedly involved Trump conveying that bringing an end to Gaza operations would help him in nuclear negotiations with Iran, as well as achieving Saudi-Israeli normalization based on the Abraham Accords. These negotiations have been growing tougher, specifically over the question of if the Iranians can maintain any uranium enrichment at all.
In reference to reporting in Israel's Kan public broadcaster and Channel 12, "Trump also ruled out an attack on Iran as the White House seeks to rein in Tehran’s nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief, according to the reports."
While admitting this week that the Iranians have become "much more aggressive" in negotiations which have taken place in Oman and Rome, Trump's latest statements have been a little less directly threatening in terms of the 'bomb Tehran' 'option'.
For example, here's how Trump responded to a NY Post question on the subject:
“Well, if they don’t make a deal, they’re not going to have a nuclear weapon,” Trump answered. “If they do make a deal, they’re not going have a nuclear weapon, too, you know? But they’re not going a have a new nuclear weapon, so it’s not going to matter from that standpoint.
“But it would be nicer to do it without warfare, without people dying, it’s so much nicer to do it. But I don’t think I see the same level of enthusiasm for them to make a deal. I think they would make a mistake, but we’ll see. I guess time will tell.”
Given the phone call with Netanyahu, it seems the president increasingly sees a Gaza truce deal as crucial to achieving broader stabilization in terms of US interests in the region.
There's also this interesting information via The Times of Israel:
Trump reportedly told Netanyahu that the so-called “Witkoff framework,” which would pause the war for some 60 days in exchange for about half of the hostages held by Hamas, will not suffice.
Meanwhile in Gaza the high death toll continues, amid a controversial plan for a US aid group to oversee humanitarian relieve. Al Jazeera is reporting Wednesday that at least 61 Palestinians, including 39 aid seekers, have been killed by Israeli forces across parts of the Gaza Strip since dawn.
Most Israeli captives still in Hamas' hands are feared dead, but there's widespread acknowledgement that possibly a dozen or more are still alive. Victims' family members in Israel have been pressing the government to achieve another prisoner swap.
