Trump says Hamas response ‘good', signals possible Gaza deal next week
He told reporters aboard Air Force One there could be a deal on a Gaza ceasefire by next week, but that he had not been briefed on the current state of negotiations.
'We have to do something about Gaza — we're sending a lot of money and a lot of aid,' Trump told reporters, as Hamas said it was ready to start negotiations 'immediately' on a US-backed truce proposal.
The announcement comes ahead of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit to Washington on Monday.
The conflict in Gaza began with Hamas's unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, which sparked a massive Israeli offensive aimed at destroying Hamas and bringing home all the hostages seized by the group.
Two previous ceasefires brokered by Qatar, Egypt, and the United States resulted in temporary halts in fighting, coupled with the return of Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.
Netanyahu earlier on Friday vowed to bring home all the hostages held in Gaza after coming under intense domestic pressure over their fate.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Arab News
24 minutes ago
- Arab News
Congregation flees after arsonist sets fire to an Australian synagogue door
MELBOURNE: An arsonist set fire to the door of a Melbourne synagogue and forced the congregation to flee on Friday, seven months after criminals destroyed a synagogue in the same Australian city with an accelerant-fueled blaze that left a worshipper injured.A man doused the double front doors of the downtown East Melbourne Hebrew Congregation and set it alight around 8 p.m., a police statement said on Saturday. Around 20 worshippers sharing a meal to mark the Shabbat Jewish day of rest evacuated through a rear door and no one was injured, police fighters extinguished the blaze which was contained to the front entrance, attacks roil Australia since 2023A wave of antisemitic attacks has roiled Australia since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas assault on Israel triggered the war in and Muslim organizations and hate researchers have recorded drastic spikes in hate-fueled incidents on both groups. The Australian government last year appointed special envoys to combat antisemitism and Islamophobia in the December, two masked men struck the Adass Israel Synagogue in Melbourne's southeast. They caused extensive damage by spreading a liquid accelerant with brooms throughout the building before igniting it. A worshipper sustained minor charges have been laid for that attack, which Prime Minister Anthony Albanese blamed on Victorian Joint Counter-Terrorism Team, which includes Victoria state police, federal police and Australia's main domestic spy agency, said the fire was likely a politically-motivated say synagogue attack is a serious crimeActing Victoria Police Commander Zorka Dunstan described the latest synagogue fire as a serious crime. Police released a CCTV image of a suspect.'I'd like to make it very clear that we do recognize that these crimes are disgusting and abhorrent. But at this stage, we are not declaring this a terrorist incident,' Dunstan told reporters.'In the course of our investigation, we will examine the intent and the ideology of the persons involved, or person, to determine if this is in fact terrorism. At the moment, we are categorizing it as a serious criminal incident and responding accordingly,' she added.A terrorism declaration opens the investigation to more resourcing and can result in charges that carry longer prison synagogue's president, Danny Segal, called for the wider Australian community to stand with his congregation.'We're here to be in peace, you know, we're here for everybody to live together and we've got a fresh start in Australia, such a beautiful country, and what they're doing is just not fair and not right, and as Australians, we should stand up and everybody should stand up,' Segal told harass diners in Israeli-owned restaurantAlso in downtown Melbourne on Friday night, around 20 masked protesters harassed diners in an Israeli-owned restaurant. A Miznon restaurant window was broken. A 28-year-old woman was arrested for hindering Commission chair Dvir Abramovich, a leading opponent of antisemitism in Australia, said diners were terrorized as the group chanted 'Death to the IDF,' referring to the Israel Defense Forces.'Melbourne, for one night, stopped being a safe place for Jews,' Abramovich Lord Mayor Nicholas Reece condemned both the synagogue and restaurant incidents.'These criminal acts against a Melbourne synagogue and an Israeli business are absolutely shocking,' Reece said. 'All of us as a community need to stand up against it.'Victoria Premier Jacinta Allan said both incidents were designed to 'traumatize Jewish families.''Any attack on a place of worship is an act of hate, and any attack on a Jewish place of worship is an act of antisemitism,' she said in a statement.
Al Arabiya
29 minutes ago
- Al Arabiya
Trump ‘very unhappy' with Putin on Ukraine, hints at sanctions
US President Donald Trump said Friday he was 'very unhappy' about his telephone call with Vladimir Putin on the war in Ukraine, saying the Russian leader just wanted to 'keep killing people.' 'It's a very tough situation. I told you I was very unhappy with my call with President Putin. He wants to go all the way, just keep killing people, it's no good,' Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One. Trump also hinted that he may finally be ready to toughen sanctions against Russia, having held off for the past six months while he tried to persuade Putin to end the war. 'We talk about sanctions a lot,' Trump said. 'He understands that it may be coming.' Trump added that he and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy meanwhile had a 'very strategic call' on Friday, as concerns mounted in Kyiv over US military aid deliveries. Zelenskyy said earlier that the two leaders had agreed to work to 'strengthen' Ukraine's air defenses, following Russia's largest drone and missile barrage of the invasion so far. Trump said he had also discussed sending Patriot interceptor missiles to Ukraine in a separate call with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Friday, although he had not yet agreed to do so. Merz 'feels they have to be protected,' Trump said.
Al Arabiya
2 hours ago
- Al Arabiya
Trump says US will start talks with China on TikTok deal this week
US President Donald Trump said on Friday he will start talking to China on Monday or Tuesday about a possible TikTok deal. He said the United States 'pretty much' has a deal on the sale of the TikTok short-video app. 'I think we're gonna start Monday or Tuesday… talking to China, perhaps President Xi or one of his representatives, but we pretty much have a deal,' Trump told reporters on Air Force One. Last month, Trump extended to September 17 a deadline for China-based ByteDance to divest the US assets of TikTok. A deal had been in the works this spring to spin off TikTok's US operations into a new US-based firm, majority-owned and operated by US investors, but it was put on hold after China indicated it would not approve it following Trump's announcements of steep tariffs on Chinese goods. Trump said the United States will probably have to get a deal approved by China. When asked how confident he was that China would agree to a deal, he said, 'I'm not confident, but I think so. President Xi and I have a great relationship, and I think it's good for them. I think the deal is good for China and it's good for us.'
