Trump says he wants to end the war in Gaza "as quickly as possible"
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President Trump said Sunday he wants to end the war in Gaza "as quickly as possible," stating publicly what he's been saying privately since his trip to the Middle East this month.
Why it matters: Many of Israel's international allies, aside from Trump, have already broken publicly with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over his decision to expand the Gaza operation, suspend humanitarian aid and oppose a long-term ceasefire. Trump has so far declined to publicly pressure Netanyahu.
What he's saying: Speaking to reporters on Sunday before boarding Air Force One to Washington, Trump said he hopes to have good news soon.
- "We want to see if we can stop that. And Israel, we've been talking to them, and we want to see if we can stop that whole situation as quickly as possible," he said.
Driving the news: White House officials told Axios last week that Trump has been frustrated by the ongoing war in Gaza and upset by images of suffering Palestinian children. He has told his aides to tell Netanyahu to wrap it up.
But Israel is expanding its operation and now aims to reoccupy the entire enclave and flatten most of its buildings.
- An IDF official told reporters Sunday that in two months, the IDF will occupy 75% of the Gaza Strip.
- The official said most of Hamas' military command has been wiped out, but its core fighting brigades are still functioning.
- While the official claimed the military pressure on Hamas would serve the efforts to release the remaining 58 hostages held in Gaza, in practice the negotiations on a new Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal have reached a dead end.
State of play: On Sunday, the U.S.-Israeli effort to launch a new mechanism to deliver humanitarian aid in Gaza beyond Hamas' reach suffered a huge blow when the executive director of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), Jake Wood, announced his resignation.
- The GHF is supposed to manage and fund the new humanitarian mechanism, which was expected to start operating on the ground this week.
- Wood said in a statement that when he took the job more than two months ago, he sought to establish the GHF as a truly independent humanitarian entity to help the people of Gaza.
- "However, it is clear that it is not possible to implement this plan while also strictly adhering to the humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality and independence, which I will not abandon," he said.
Between the lines: Wood's statement echoed concerns and criticism by the UN and aid organizations against the GHF, which claimed it would effectively be controlled by Israel and would violate humanitarian norms.
- Wood's resignation and the reasons behind it will make it almost impossible for the GHF to win support from aid organizations or donor countries, putting its existence and ability to operate in Gaza in jeopardy.
