US President Donald Trump said on Monday that he wants to see the war in Gaza come to an end soon, as he hosted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House.
“I’d like to see the war stop,” Trump said when asked about his campaign pledge to end the conflict. “And I think the war will stop at some point, that won’t be in the too-distant future.”
The Oval Office meeting marked their first face-to-face since Netanyahu returned to Washington amid international pressure over the growing death toll in Gaza.
Israeli onslaught on Gaza has killed more than 50,700 Palestinians, including a large number of children and women.
Trump said US efforts to free hostages held by Hamas are ongoing but described it as “a long process.”
Netanyahu, speaking alongside Trump, referenced a January ceasefire deal that resulted in the partial release of hostages. He said Israel is pursuing another agreement.
“We’re committed to getting all the hostages out, but also eliminating the evil tyranny of Hamas,” Netanyahu said. “We want to enable the people of Gaza to freely make a choice to go wherever they want.”
He added that they had discussed Trump’s “bold vision” for Gaza’s future, alluding to a controversial proposal floated by Trump in the early weeks of his presidency for the United States to take control of the Gaza Strip.
That plan, widely criticised by the international community as a form of ethnic cleansing, resurfaced Monday when Trump said, “a peace force like the United States there controlling and owning the Gaza Strip would be a good thing.”
Trump also repeated his suggestion that Palestinians from Gaza could be relocated to other countries, another idea that has sparked condemnation from humanitarian and rights groups.
Meanwhile yesterday, Israeli airstrikes struck tents near two major hospitals in Gaza overnight, killing at least two people including a Palestinian journalist and wounding at least nine others, six of whom were reporters, local medics said on Monday.
One of the strikes hit a media tent outside Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis around 2 a.m., setting it ablaze and killing Yousef al-Faqawi, a reporter for the Palestine Today news website, according to hospital staff. Another man was also killed in the blast.
Official data released on Thursday revealed that Israel’s ongoing military campaign in Gaza has left more than 39,000 children without one or both parents.
The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) shared the figures in a statement marking Palestinian Child’s Day, observed on April 5. “After 534 days of Israel’s genocidal war, approximately 39,384 children in Gaza have been orphaned,” the statement said.
The report noted that nearly 17,000 children have lost both parents in Israeli attacks since October 2023. Additionally, at least 17,954 children have been killed, including 274 newborns and 876 infants under one year old.
The PCBS also highlighted that 17 children died from extreme cold in displacement tents, while 52 others succumbed to starvation and deliberate malnutrition.
With Israel’s crippling blockade exacerbating food shortages, the bureau warned that around 60,000 children are at risk of death due to malnutrition and the impending famine in Gaza.
