Jerusalem
CNN
—
US President Donald Trump told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to end the war in Gaza and stop talk of an attack on Iran, according to a source familiar with the conversation.
The two leaders spoke on the phone on Monday. Trump later said the call went “very well, very smooth.”
The call for Israel to change course comes as Washington pushes for a nuclear deal with Iran and engages in indirect talks with Hamas over a ceasefire in Gaza.
CNN has reached out to the White House for comment.
Netanyahu convened his top ministers Tuesday night after there was “some progress” in negotiations toward a ceasefire deal, according to his office. The purpose of the meeting was to give updates on the negotiations and discuss next steps.
Earlier in the day, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said there had been recent progress in ceasefire talks that also aim to bring back hostages held in Gaza.
“Israel is serious in its will to secure a hostage deal. There has recently been certain progress,” Sa’ar told a news conference in Jerusalem, adding that “in light of past experience, I don’t want to overstate it at this point.”
On Thursday, Hamas said it remains open to the ceasefire deal proposed by US envoy Steve Witkoff, but said it requires stronger guarantees against Israeli attacks.
In a televised speech on Thursday, Khalil Al-Hayya, a high-ranking official in the militant group, said Hamas has not rejected Witkoff’s proposal but has submitted amendments with stronger security guarantees.
Hamas wants any deal to include a permanent end to the war in Gaza and a withdrawal of Israeli forces.
Trump and Netanyahu appear increasingly at odds over the war in Gaza as the conflict passes the 20-month mark. Netanyahu has made clear that his war goals include the complete disarmament and removal of Hamas, while Trump has pushed for an end to the war.
It’s one of several major issues in the region where a growing rift is emerging between the US and Israel. In recent weeks, the Trump administration bypassed Israel on a trip to the Middle East, reached a ceasefire deal with the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen that failed to halt their ballistic missile attacks at Israel, and lifted sanctions on Syria – even as Israel warns against legitimizing a regime run by former jihadists.
Meanwhile, Trump said his administration is “trying to make a deal so that there’s no destruction and death” in Iran. The sixth round of talks between the US and Iran is slated to start in the coming days.
During their call, Trump asked Netanyahu to stop talking about an attack on Iran, the source familiar with the conversation said, and halt the leaks and reports about plans and preparations for an Israeli attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities.
Netanyahu has repeatedly pushed for a military option to stop Iran’s nuclear program. In the conversation with Trump, Netanyahu told Trump that Iran is just trying to buy time and isn’t serious about negotiations, the source said. CNN reported last month that Israel was preparing for a possible strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities.
The Trump administration has also been trying to expand the Abraham Accords, the landmark series of agreements from Trump’s first term that saw Israel normalize relations with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco.
But Saudi Arabia – whose agreement to such a deal would be the ultimate prize – has repeatedly made clear that it will not normalize relations with Israel without concrete steps towards recognition of a Palestinian state and a plan to implement the two-state solution.
US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee said this week that a two-state solution is no longer a goal of US policy, as it had been for decades of both Republican and Democrat administrations.
“Unless there are some significant things that happen that change the culture, there’s no room for it,” Huckabee told Bloomberg News in an interview in Jerusalem. He said it won’t happen “in our lifetime.” Huckabee has previously advocated for Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank and once said that “there’s really no such thing as a Palestinian.”
Earlier in the war, Trump laid out vague plans for a “Gaza Riviera” that envisioned US control of the coastal enclave and the displacement of large parts of the Palestinian population living there.
