Trump: Hamas surrender, hostage release is ‘fastest way' to end Gaza war
"The fastest way to end the humanitarian crises in Gaza is for Hamas to SURRENDER AND RELEASE THE HOSTAGES!!!" the president posted.
Trump's post shows a bit of a shift in his messaging on the war and the humanitarian situation in Gaza. Recently, Trump appeared to put the onus on Israel and acknowledged that "there is real starvation in Gaza," representing a rare break from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who delivered the exact opposite message.
"There is no starvation in Gaza, no policy of starvation in Gaza, and I assure you that we have a commitment to achieve our war goals," Netanyahu said in a video statement on X. He also doubled down on his commitment to get the hostages out and destroy Hamas' military and governing capabilities.
"There are two ways to end the war: terminate Hamas or terminate the Jewish state," Human Rights Voices President and Touro Institute on Human Rights and the Holocaust Anne Bayefsky told Fox News Digital. "The Europeans pretend there is a little-bit-pregnant solution, namely, decimate the Israel militarily, economically and politically and allow Palestinian terrorists to live to see another day… President Trump quite rightly says, hell no; the Palestinian terrorist machine needs to be ended for the sake of Israelis, Palestinians and the rest of us."
Trump's Thursday post comes as U.S. Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff meets with Netanyahu to discuss the potential for a ceasefire deal, as well as the humanitarian situation in Gaza.
Last week, ceasefire talks in Qatar broke down, leading the U.S. and Israel to pull their delegations of negotiators. Both countries cited Hamas' response as the main reason for backing out. Witkoff said the terror group showed "a lack of desire to reach a ceasefire in Gaza" and that Hamas was not "acting in good faith."
"It is a shame that Hamas has acted in this selfish way. We are resolute in seeking an end to this conflict and a permanent peace in Gaza," Witkoff wrote on X.
Despite negotiations breaking down, the international community recently issued a declaration calling on Hamas to disarm, demanding that Israel leave the Strip and outlining a path to ending the bloody Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The "New York Declaration" was signed during a U.N. conference co-chaired by France and Saudi Arabia.
The declaration, which was obtained and published by the Times of Israel, calls for the unification of Gaza and the West Bank under the control of the Palestinian Authority and for "the end of armed group control and the dismantlement of their military capabilities," likely referring to Hamas and other Palestinian terror groups. Additionally, the document includes praise for efforts by the U.S., Egypt and Qatar to bring about an end to the war.
Bayefsky was not optimistic about the declaration, despite its apparent calls for peace and the end of Hamas rule.
"The New York Declaration is a no-holds-barred attack on the United States as well as Israel, intended to completely derail President Trump's foreign policy and long-standing bipartisan commitment to a negotiated settlement," she told Fox News Digital. "In this very long document that includes talk about Islamic claims, there is zero reference to a Jewish state, to Jews, or Jewish history – or to antisemitism, the driver of the Arab-Israeli conflict in the first place."
"The Declaration says there will be a meeting in New York in September to get world leaders attending the opening of the General Assembly to sign on and give the president the proverbial middle finger," Bayefsky added.
Israel objected to the declaration, while the U.S. stayed away from the conference, calling it "unproductive and ill-timed."
"No token recognition and no U.N. resolution will change the basic fact that there are those in the world who fight terrorists and extremist forces and then there are those who turn a blind eye to them or resort to appeasement," Israeli U.N. Ambassador Danny Danon said in a statement.
State Department Spokesperson Tammy Bruce said the conference was a "publicity stunt" that would "prolong the war, embolden Hamas and reward its obstruction and undermine real-world efforts to achieve peace.
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