Trump says he told Netanyahu to end Gaza war but criticises ceasefire call

WASHINGTON/BEDMINSTER, New Jersey - Republican US presidential candidate Donald Trump said on Aug 15 that he told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during their last meeting in July to quickly end Israel's war in Gaza, but the former president also criticised ceasefire demands.

“He knows what he's doing, I did encourage him to get this over with,” Trump told reporters at a press conference on Aug 15. “It has to get over with fast… get your victory and get it over with. It has to stop, the killing has to stop.”

Trump was referring to his meeting with Mr Netanyahu

at his Mar-a-Lago residence in late July

, when Mr Netanyahu visited the US. He also met President Joe Biden and Vice-President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris during his trip.

There has been an increased risk of a broader war in the Middle East after the recent killings of

Palestinian Islamist group Hamas’ leader Ismail Haniyeh

in Iran and Hezbollah military commander Fuad Shukr in Beirut. Both drew threats of retaliation against Israel.

In an event later on Aug 15 about tackling anti-Semitism, Trump criticised Mr Biden and Ms Harris’ months-long calls for a ceasefire in Gaza.

“From the start, Harris has worked to tie Israel’s hand behind its back, demanding an immediate ceasefire, always demanding ceasefire,” Trump said, adding it “would only give Hamas time to regroup and launch a new Oct 7 style attack.”

Trump added: “I will give Israel the support that it needs to win, but I do want them to win fast.”

In the same event, Trump also labelled pro-Palestinian supporters calling for an end to US support for Israel’s war as “pro-Hamas thugs” and “jihad sympathisers”.

He threatened to arrest and deport them from the US if he became president.

Mr Netanyahu's office and Trump both separately denied on Aug 15 an Axios report that said they had spoken the previous day about Gaza ceasefire and hostage release talks.

Mr Biden laid out

a three-phase ceasefire proposal

in an address on May 31. Washington and regional mediators have since tried arranging the Gaza ceasefire-for-hostages deal but have run into repeated obstacles.

The report, in Axios, cited two US sources. One source said Trump's call was intended to encourage Mr Netanyahu to take the deal, but stressed he did not know if this is indeed what the former president told Mr Netanyahu.

Egypt, the US and Qatar have scheduled a new round of Gaza ceasefire negotiations this week.

Washington, Israel's most important ally, has said that a ceasefire in Gaza will reduce the rising threat of a wider war in the Middle East.

The latest bloodshed in the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict was

triggered on Oct 7 when Hamas attacked Israel

, killing 1,200 and taking about 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.

Israel's subsequent assault on the Hamas-governed enclave has since killed over 40,000 Palestinians, according to the local health ministry, while also displacing nearly the entire population of 2.3 million, causing a hunger crisis and leading to genocide allegations at the World Court that Israel denies. REUTERS