White House: Trump wants to end the Gaza war… there are discussions about a ceasefire
White House spokeswoman Caroline Levitt said that the United States continues to discuss the ceasefire proposal for the Gaza Strip, which was presented by mediators and accepted by Hamas, while Israel hasn’t issued an official response to it.
In a press conference on Tuesday, Levitt said that US President Donald Trump, in addition to his efforts to establish peace between Russia and Ukraine, is working on “conflicts raging around the world”.
She continued: “Of course, the president spends a lot of time trying to end the conflict in Gaza, and he wants this conflict to end”.
The Whitehouse spokeswoman answered a question about whether Washington supports the ceasefire proposal for Gaza presented by Qatar and Egypt, which Hamas announced its acceptance of on Monday.
“I don’t think it’s a coincidence that Hamas accepted this offer after the president made a very strong statement about this conflict on social media yesterday… The United States continues to discuss this”.
On Monday, Trump said that the return of Israeli hostages held by Palestinian factions in the Gaza Strip wouldn’t be possible “unless Hamas is destroyed”.
He added in a post on Truth Social, “We’ll not see the return of the remaining hostages until Hamas is confronted and destroyed… The sooner we do this, the greater the chances of success”.
Hamas announced on Monday its acceptance of a proposal submitted by mediators Egypt and Qatar regarding a ceasefire and prisoner exchange in Gaza.
From his part, the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that “Israel’s policy hasn’t changed… It demands the release of all fifty kidnapped soldiers in accordance with the principles set by the Security Cabinet to end the war”.
Observers considered Netanyahu’s office’s statement to be an implicit rejection of the proposal, despite it being very similar to, or nearly identical to, the one previously presented by US envoy Steve Witkoff and accepted by Tel Aviv.
The proposal called for the release of 10 living prisoners and 18 bodies in exchange for a 60-day ceasefire during which negotiations would be held to end the war.
