U.S. President Donald Trump today thanked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for “temporarily” stopping the bombing of Gaza “in order to give the Hostage release and Peace Deal a chance to be completed.” Hamas, he said in a social media posting, “must move quickly, or else all bets will be off. I will not tolerate delay, which many think will happen, or any outcome where Gaza poses a threat again. Let’s get this done, FAST. Everyone will be treated fairly!”
Later, Trump told Axios in an interview that “we are close” to a peace deal in Gaza, and said he will push to finalize it in the next few days. “I said, ‘Bibi, this is your chance for victory.’ He was fine with it,” he said. “He’s got to be fine with it. He has no choice. With me, you got to be fine.”
A White House official told Axios that White House envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner were traveling to Egypt on Oct. 4 to finalize the technical details of the hostage release “and discuss the lasting peace deal.”
On Oct. 3, before Trump publicly called on Israel to stop its strikes, he spoke to Netanyahu on the phone. Trump told Axios in the interview, that he was warned by his team ahead of the call, that Netanyahu had reservations. But Trump said that when they spoke, Netanyahu agreed to move forward. “We had great receptivity for our plan—every country of the world in favor. Bibi is in favor. Hamas went a long way—they want to do it. Now we will need to close it,” Trump said.
