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Trump Says He Told Netanyahu to End Gaza War But Criticizes Ceasefire Call

FILE PHOTO: Republican presidential nominee and former US President Donald Trump attends a campaign rally in Bozeman, Montana, US, August 9, 2024. REUTERS/Jim Urquhart/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Republican presidential nominee and former US President Donald Trump attends a campaign rally in Bozeman, Montana, US, August 9, 2024. REUTERS/Jim Urquhart/File Photo
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Trump Says He Told Netanyahu to End Gaza War But Criticizes Ceasefire Call

FILE PHOTO: Republican presidential nominee and former US President Donald Trump attends a campaign rally in Bozeman, Montana, US, August 9, 2024. REUTERS/Jim Urquhart/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Republican presidential nominee and former US President Donald Trump attends a campaign rally in Bozeman, Montana, US, August 9, 2024. REUTERS/Jim Urquhart/File Photo

Republican US presidential candidate Donald Trump said on Thursday he told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during their last meeting in July to quickly end Israel's war in Gaza, but the former president also criticized ceasefire demands.
"He knows what he's doing, I did encourage him to get this over with," Trump told reporters at a press conference on Thursday. "It has to get over with fast. ... Get your victory and get it over with. It has to stop, the killing has to stop."
Trump was referring to his meeting with Netanyahu at his Mar-a-Lago residence in late July, when Netanyahu visited the United States. He also met President Joe Biden and Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris during his trip, said Reuters.
There has been an increased risk of a broader war in the Middle East after the recent killings of Palestinian group Hamas' leader Ismail Haniyeh in Iran and Hezbollah military commander Fuad Shukr in Beirut. Both drew threats of retaliation against Israel.
In an event later on Thursday about tackling antisemitism, Trump criticized Biden and Harris' months-long calls for a ceasefire in Gaza.
"From the start, Harris has worked to tie Israel's hand behind its back, demanding an immediate ceasefire, always demanding ceasefire," Trump said, adding it "would only give Hamas time to regroup and launch a new October 7 style attack."
Trump added: "I will give Israel the support that it needs to win but I do want them to win fast."
In the same event, Trump also labelled pro-Palestinian supporters calling for an end to US support for Israel's war as "pro-Hamas thugs". He threatened to arrest and deport them from the US if he became president.
Netanyahu's office and Trump both separately denied on Thursday an Axios report that said they had spoken the previous day about Gaza ceasefire and hostage release talks.
Biden laid out a three-phase ceasefire proposal in an address on May 31. Washington and regional mediators have since tried arranging the Gaza ceasefire-for-hostages deal but have run into repeated obstacles.
The Axios report cited two US sources. One source said the reported call was intended to encourage Netanyahu to take the deal, but stressed he did not know if this is indeed what the former president told Netanyahu.
Egypt, the United States and Qatar have scheduled a new round of Gaza ceasefire negotiations this week.
Washington, Israel's most important ally, has said that a ceasefire in Gaza will reduce the rising threat of a wider war.
The latest bloodshed in the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict was triggered on Oct. 7 when Hamas attacked Israel, killing 1,200 and taking about 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
Israel's subsequent assault on the Hamas-governed enclave has since killed over 40,000 Palestinians, according to the local health ministry, while also displacing nearly the entire population of 2.3 million, causing a hunger crisis and leading to genocide allegations at the World Court that Israel denies.

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Hurricane Helene Threatens 'Unsurvivable' Storm Surge and Vast Inland Damage

A view of the Tropical Storm Helene from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) airplane, September 25,2024 is seen in this screen grab obtained from social media video. Nick Underwood, NOAA/via REUTERS
A view of the Tropical Storm Helene from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) airplane, September 25,2024 is seen in this screen grab obtained from social media video. Nick Underwood, NOAA/via REUTERS
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Hurricane Helene Threatens 'Unsurvivable' Storm Surge and Vast Inland Damage

A view of the Tropical Storm Helene from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) airplane, September 25,2024 is seen in this screen grab obtained from social media video. Nick Underwood, NOAA/via REUTERS
A view of the Tropical Storm Helene from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) airplane, September 25,2024 is seen in this screen grab obtained from social media video. Nick Underwood, NOAA/via REUTERS

Fast-moving Hurricane Helene was advancing Thursday across the Gulf of Mexico toward Florida, threatening an “unsurvivable” storm surge in northwestern parts of the state as well as damaging winds, rains and flash floods hundreds of miles inland across much of the southeastern US, the National Weather Service in Tallahassee said.
Helene is expected to be a major hurricane — meaning a Category 3 or higher — when it makes landfall on Florida's northwestern coast Thursday evening. As of early Thursday, hurricane warnings and flash flood warnings extended far beyond the coast up into south-central Georgia. The governors of Florida, Georgia, and the Carolinas have all declared emergencies in their states, The Associated Press reported.
The weather service forecast storm surges of up to 20 feet (6 meters) and warned they could be particularly “catastrophic and life-threatening” in Florida's Apalachee Bay. It added that high winds and heavy rains also posed risks.
“This forecast, if realized, is a nightmare surge scenario for Apalachee Bay,” the office said. “Please, please, please take any evacuation orders seriously!”
In Crawfordville, farther inland and about 25 miles (40 kilometers) northwest of Apalachee Bay, Christine Nazworth stocked up on bottled water, baked goods and premade meals at a Walmart. She said her family would be sheltering in place, despite Wakulla County issuing a mandatory evacuation order.
“I’m prayed up,” she said. “Lord have mercy on us. And everybody else that might be in its path.”
Wakulla County was one of several to issue evacuation orders. Along Florida's Gulf Coast, school districts and multiple universities have cancelled classes.
Early Thursday, Helene was about 350 miles (560 kilometers) southwest of Tampa and moving north northeast at 12 mph (19 kph) with top sustained winds of 90 mph (150 kph). Forecasters said it should become a major Category 3 or higher hurricane, meaning winds would top 110 mph (177 kph).
While Helene will likely weaken as it moves inland, its “fast forward speed will allow strong, damaging winds, especially in gusts, to penetrate well inland across the southeastern United States,” including in the southern Appalachian Mountains, the National Hurricane Center said. The center posted lesser tropical storm warnings as far north as North Carolina, and warned that much of the region could experience prolonged power outages, toppled trees and dangerous flooding.
Helene had swamped parts of Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula on Wednesday, flooding streets and toppling trees as it passed offshore and brushed the resort city of Cancun.
The storm formed Tuesday in the Caribbean Sea. In Cuba, the government preventively shut off power in some communities as waves as high as 16 feet (5 meters) slammed Cortes Bay. And in the Cayman Islands, schools closed and residents pumped water from flooded homes.
Rain was already falling steadily in Atlanta on Wednesday evening as shoppers emptied shelves of water at a Kroger supermarket east of downtown. The National Weather Service in Atlanta issued flash flood warnings for much of the state.
Charles McComb said he still found it hard to believe Helene would seriously impact the city, which is more than 250 miles (400 kilometers) north of the Gulf of Mexico. “It would be really unique for it to hit so far inland,” Charles said as he bought water, bread and lunch meat.
He was, however, worried about losing electricity.
“I do live in an area where it doesn’t take so much for the power to go out,” he said.
Helene is forecast to be one of the largest storms in breadth in years to hit the region, said Colorado State University hurricane researcher Phil Klotzbach. He said since 1988, only three Gulf hurricanes were bigger than Helene’s predicted size: 2017’s Irma, 2005’s Wilma and 1995’s Opal.
Areas 100 miles (160 kilometers) north of the Georgia-Florida line can expect hurricane conditions. More than half of Georgia’s public school districts and several universities canceled classes.
For Atlanta, Helene could be the worst strike on a major Southern inland city in 35 years, said University of Georgia meteorology professor Marshall Shepherd.
Landslides were possible in southern Appalachia, and rainfall was expected as far away as Tennessee, Kentucky and Indiana.
Federal authorities have positioned generators, food and water, along with search-and-rescue and power restoration teams.
Helene is the eighth named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, which began June 1. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has predicted an above-average Atlantic hurricane season this year because of record-warm ocean temperatures.
In further storm activity, Tropical Storm Isaac formed Wednesday in the Atlantic and was expected to strengthen as it moves eastward across the open ocean, possibly becoming a hurricane by the end of the week, forecasters said. Isaac was about 690 miles (1,115 kilometers) northeast of Bermuda with top sustained winds of 50 mph (85 kph), according to the US National Hurricane Center in Miami, which said its swells and winds could affect parts of Bermuda and eventually the Azores by the weekend.
In the Pacific, former Hurricane John reformed Wednesday as a tropical storm and was strengthening as it threatened areas of Mexico’s western coast. Officials posted hurricane warnings for southwestern Mexico.
John hit the country’s southern Pacific coast late Monday, killing at least two people, triggering mudslides, and damaging homes and trees. It grew into a Category 3 hurricane in a matter of hours and made landfall east of Acapulco. It reemerged over the ocean after weakening inland.