The War Room newsletter: The daddy of all summits
It is meekly welcoming the new sheriff's vigilante justice
The answer matters more than you think
Donald Trump prefers deals to regime change
After decades of rising secularism, Christianity is holding its ground—and gaining among the young
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The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
Trump claims Israel ready for Gaza peace deal in bid to boost Hamas ceasefire talks
Donald Trump has claimed that Israel is ready to agree to a peace deal with Hamas as he seeks to broker a ceasefire to the war in Gaza that has claimed almost 60,000 lives. In a post on Truth Social, the US president wrote: 'Israel has agreed to the necessary conditions to finalize the 60 Day CEASEFIRE, during which time we will work with all parties to end the War.' He said representatives for Qatar and Egypt will deliver 'this final proposal' to Hamas. There was no immediate official response from Israel or Hamas to Trump's post. It is unclear what conditions specifically Israel has agreed to and Trump's previous claims that Israel was ready to end the war, including a ceasefire negotiated before his inauguration in January, have quickly broken down as both sides have accused the other of violating agreements on prisoner exchanges. Nonetheless, the claim comes after Trump brokered a ceasefire between Israel and Iran, and on the same day as Israel's strategic affairs minister, Ron Dermer, reportedly met US secretary of state Marco Rubio and Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff. 'The Qataris and Egyptians, who have worked very hard to help bring Peace, will deliver this final proposal,' Trump wrote. 'I hope, for the good of the Middle East, that Hamas takes this Deal, because it will not get better — IT WILL ONLY GET WORSE.' Trump told reporters earlier in the day that he was hopeful that a ceasefire-for-hostages agreement could be achieved next week between Israel and Hamas militants in Gaza. He is set to meet Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on Monday. Trump and his aides appear to be seeking to use any momentum from US and Israeli strikes on Iran nuclear sites, as well as a ceasefire that took hold last week in that war, to secure a lasting truce in the war in Gaza. Trump told reporters during a visit to Florida that he would be 'very firm' with Netanyahu on the need for a speedy Gaza ceasefire. 'We hope it's going to happen. And we're looking forward to it happening sometime next week,' he told reporters. 'We want to get the hostages out.' Hamas has said it is willing to free remaining hostages in Gaza under any deal to end the war. Israel says the war can end only if Hamas is disarmed and dismantled. The two sides have shown little sign of a readiness to budge from their entrenched positions. Talk of a 'final proposal' for a ceasefire comes after a horrific Israeli attack at the Al-Baqa cafe on the Gaza seafront on Monday that medical and other officials said killed between 24 and 36 Palestinians, including children. The Israel-Gaza war began when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel on 7 October 2023, killing 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 251 hostages back to Gaza. Israel's subsequent military assault has killed more than 56,500 Palestinians, mostly civilians – though experts say this is likely to be an undercount, – displaced almost the entire 2.3 million population and reduced much of the territory to rubble.
Sky News
2 hours ago
- Sky News
Trump says Israel has agreed on terms for 60-day ceasefire in Gaza, and has warning for Hamas
Donald Trump has said Israel has agreed on terms for a 60-day ceasefire in Gaza, and is urging Hamas to accept the deal before conditions worsen. The US president announced the development ahead of hosting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for talks at the White House next week. He has been increasing pressure on the Israeli government and Hamas to work out a ceasefire and hostage agreement to end the war. "My Representatives had a long and productive meeting with the Israelis today on Gaza. Israel has agreed to the necessary conditions to finalise the 60 Day CEASEFIRE, during which time we will work with all parties to end the War," Mr Trump wrote on social media - adding that Qatari and Egyptian officials would deliver the final proposal. "I hope, for the good of the Middle East, that Hamas takes this Deal, because it will not get better - IT WILL ONLY GET WORSE." It comes as Israel's minister for strategic affairs, Ron Dermer, was in Washington for talks with senior administration officials to discuss a potential ceasefire in Gaza, as well as Iran and other matters. Mr Dermer was expected to meet Vice President JD Vance, secretary of state Marco Rubio and special envoy Steve Witkoff. Analysis: Trump wants to be seen as a peacemaker US correspondent @skydavidblevins This development is significant, but it's not entirely surprising. Behind the scenes, the Israelis have been indicating for a while that they were prepared to sign up to a 60-day ceasefire. The extremists in Benjamin Netanyahu's government are not prepared to accept a permanent truce - so if he were to sign up to that, he risks collapsing his entire government. Sixty days takes them to the point where the Israeli parliament is in recess, so it is much safer for him, politically speaking. But Hamas has always been adamant that it wants a permanent end to the violence in Gaza, and there's no indication at this stage that the organisation is prepared to compromise. So this is Donald Trump piling the pressure on Hamas ahead of Benjamin Netanyahu's visit to Washington next Monday. He's hoping he may be in a position at that stage to announce a ceasefire in Gaza - hard on the heels of having brokered an agreement between Israel and Iran. Mr Trump ultimately wants to continue to proclaim himself as the peacemaker in this region. Earlier in the day, Mr Trump told reporters he is hopeful a ceasefire-for-hostages agreement can be achieved between Israel and Hamas next week. Hamas has said it is willing to free the remaining hostages in Gaza under a deal to end the war, while Israel has said the conflict can only end if Hamas is disarmed and dismantled.
Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Donald Trump's 'colossal mistake' BLASTED by Obama and Bush during surprise reunion that left Bono in tears
Barack Obama and George W. Bush united to slam Donald Trump in a farewell Monday with staffers of USAID, with Obama calling the DOGE-assisted dismantling of the agency 'a colossal mistake.' Monday was the last day of independence for the six-decade-old humanitarian and development organization, created by President John F. Kennedy as a peaceful way of promoting U.S. national security by boosting goodwill and prosperity abroad. Secretary of State Marco Rubio ordered USAID - which Trump infamously called a 'left-wing scam' - absorbed into the State Department on Tuesday. The former presidents and U2 singer and activist Bono spoke with thousands in the USAID community in a videoconference, which was billed as a closed-press event to allow political leaders and others privacy for sometimes angry and often teary remarks. They expressed their appreciation for the thousands of USAID staffers who have lost their jobs and life's work. Their agency was one of the first and most fiercely targeted for government-cutting by the president and his billionaire ally Elon Musk 's Department of Government Efficiency, with staffers abruptly locked out of systems and offices and terminated by mass emailing. Trump claimed the agency was run by 'radical left lunatics' and rife with 'tremendous fraud.' Musk called it 'a criminal organization.' Obama, speaking in a recorded statement, offered assurances to the aid and development workers, some listening from overseas. 'Your work has mattered and will matter for generations to come,' he told them. Obama has largely kept a low public profile during Trump´s second term and refrained from criticizing the monumental changes that Trump has made to U.S. programs and priorities at home and abroad. 'Gutting USAID is a travesty, and it´s a tragedy. Because it´s some of the most important work happening anywhere in the world,' Obama said. He credited USAID with not only saving lives, but being a main factor in global economic growth that has turned some aid-receiving countries into U.S. markets and trade partners. The former Democratic president predicted that 'sooner or later, leaders on both sides of the aisle will realize how much you are needed.' Asked for comment, the State Department said it would be introducing the department´s foreign assistance successor to USAID, to be called America First, this week. 'The new process will ensure there is proper oversight and that every tax dollar spent will help advance our national interests,' the department said. USAID had provided over 40 per cent of global humanitarian funding until Trump returned to the White House in January. But two weeks into his second term, Trump's then-close advisor and former head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), Elon Musk, announced that they had put the agency 'through the woodchipper'. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio then revealed the sweeping cuts in March, saying that 5,200 of the 6,200 USAID programs had been stopped. At the time it was slashed, USAID represented 0.3 percent of all US federal spending. After USAID was gutted, several other major donors including Germany, the UK and France followed suit in announcing plans to slash their foreign aid budgets. USAID oversaw programs around the world, providing water and life-saving food to millions uprooted by conflict in Sudan, Syria, Gaza and elsewhere. They also sponsored the 'Green Revolution' that revolutionized modern agriculture and curbed starvation and famine, preventing disease outbreaks, promoting democracy, and providing financing and development that allowed countries and people to climb out of poverty. Bush, who also spoke in a recorded message, went straight to the cuts in a landmark AIDS and HIV program started by his Republican administration and credited with saving 25 million lives around the world. Bipartisan blowback from Congress to cutting the popular President´s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, known as PEPFAR, helped save significant funding for the program. But cuts and rule changes have reduced the number getting the life-saving care. 'You´ve showed the great strength of America through your work - and that is your good heart,´´ Bush told USAID staffers. 'Is it in our national interests that 25 million people who would have died now live? I think it is, and so do you,' he said. Former Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, former Colombian President Juan Manual Santos and former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield also spoke to the staffers. So did humanitarian workers, including one who spoke of the welcome appearance of USAID staffers with food when she was a frightened 8-year-old child in a camp for Liberian refugees. A World Food Program official vowed through sobs that the U.S. aid mission would be back someday. Bono, a longtime humanitarian advocate in Africa and elsewhere, was announced as the 'surprise guest,' in shades and a cap. He jokingly hailed the USAID staffers as 'secret agents of international development' in acknowledgment of the down-low nature of Monday´s unofficial gathering of the USAID community. Bono spoke passionately as he recited a poem he had written to the agency and its gutting. He spoke of children dying of malnutrition, in a reference to people - millions, experts have said - who will die because of the U.S cuts to funding for health and other programs abroad. 'They called you crooks. When you were the best of us,' Bono said.
