Former US President Donald Trump, the Republican nominee for the White House, spoke to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by phone on Wednesday about the proposed Gaza ceasefire and terrorists for hostage deal.
Negotiations on an agreement were set to resume on Thursday in Doha with the participation of senior American, Qatari, Egyptian and Israeli officials. Hamas reaffirmed on Wednesday that it will not attend the session, but an official briefed on the talks told Reuters that the terrorist group would be consulted after they conclude.
Two US sources briefed on the Trump-Netanyahu call were cited by Axios, with one source telling journalist Barak Ravid that Trump’s call was intended to encourage Netanyahu to accept the deal but that he did not know whether this message was conveyed during their conversation.
The Prime Minister’s Office did not deny that the call took place and the Trump campaign declined to comment.
Netanyahu visited Trump at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida late last month in their first face-to-face encounter since the American departed the White House three and a half years ago. Ahead of their meeting, an Israeli official revealed that Netanyahu called Trump on July 4 in what was reportedly their first conversation since January 2021.
In a Fox News interview the day before meeting Netanyahu, Trump focused on Israel finishing the war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. “I would make sure that it gets over with fast. You have to end this fast,” he said.
“They gotta get this done fast because the world is not taking lightly to it,” added Trump, while again saying that Hamas’s Oct. 7 massacre “would’ve never happened” if he were president.
Hamas kidnapped 251 people during its onslaught of the northwestern Negev on Oct. 7, in which thousands of terrorists followed by Gazan civilians murdered 1,200 people, wounded thousands more and looted and destroyed property while committing mass atrocities.
It is believed that 111 of the hostages from Oct. 7 remain in Gaza, 39 of whom the IDF has confirmed are deceased. Hamas also holds two mentally ill Israeli civilians who entered the Strip in 2014 and 2015, and the bodies of two IDF soldiers killed in 2014.
Regional tensions
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre stressed on Wednesday in a briefing with reporters the importance of reaching a Gaza ceasefire deal to reduce regional tensions.
President Joe Biden said he expects Tehran to hold off attacking Israel if a Gaza ceasefire agreement is reached.
Asked by reporters during a visit to New Orleans on Tuesday whether a deal could prevent a promised retaliation for the targeted killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran last month, the president replied, “That’s my expectation.”
Three senior Iranian officials told Reuters on Tuesday that only a ceasefire deal can prevent an Iranian attack on Israel.
One of the sources, a senior Iranian security official, said the Islamic Republic and its regional terrorist proxies, including Hezbollah in Lebanon, would carry out a direct attack if the Gaza talks fail or if Jerusalem is perceived to be dragging out the negotiations.
Iran, Hamas and Hezbollah have accused Israel of targeting Haniyeh, but Jerusalem has not taken responsibility for the killing. Separately, Hezbollah has vowed revenge for the killing in Beirut of its top commander Fuad Shukr, which Israel did take credit for.
State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel said on Tuesday that Qatar had assured Washington that it will “work to have Hamas represented” at Thursday’s talks.
The terrorist group on Sunday announced that it will not attend Thursday’s meeting unless there was a “clear commitment” from the Israeli government to approve the ceasefire proposal put forward by Hamas in July in response to the US-backed outline.
Israel immediately accepted the Aug. 8 invitation from the United States, Egypt and Qatar to attend the meeting. Patel said that the US “fully expects these talks to move forward.”
US presidential deputy assistant Amos Hochstein said in Beirut on Wednesday that he believes that an all-out war between Israel and Iran’s Lebanese terrorist proxy Hezbollah can be averted.
“I hope so and I believe so,” the diplomat replied when asked at a news conference whether a major confrontation between the two sides can be prevented.
“We continue to believe that a diplomatic resolution is achievable because we continue to believe that no one truly wants a full-scale war between Lebanon and Israel,” Hochstein said.
“Here in Lebanon, we believe we can get to the end of the conflict now. Today,” he added, saying that it should be decoupled from other regional conflicts, in apparent reference to the Swords of Iron war.
“We can reach an end to the conflict now, but we understand that we also need to work to an end to the conflict in Gaza,” he continued.
