President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to tackle the Middle East’s pressing crises, including the ongoing Gaza conflict, developments in Syria, and a fragile ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel.
Speaking to Time magazine, Trump expressed optimism about resolving the region’s challenges: “I think the Middle East is going to get—as we speak, things are happening very productively on the Middle East. I think the Middle East is going to get solved. I think it’s more complicated than the Russia-Ukraine, but I think it’s, it’s, it’s easier to solve,” he said, though he acknowledged its complexity compared to the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
When asked if Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu assured him of an end to the war in Gaza, Trump stopped short of confirming: “I don’t want to say that, but I think he feels very confident in me.”
“I think he knows I want it to end. I want everything to end,” he said. “I don’t want people from either side killed, and that includes whether it’s Russia, Ukraine, or whether it’s the Palestinians and the Israelis and all of the, you know, the different entities that we have in the Middle East.”
The conflict in Gaza has claimed over 44,800 lives, with the UN estimating that 70% of the casualties are women and children.
Trump did not detail the productive developments he mentioned or endorse a specific solution for the Israel-Palestine conflict. While avoiding a firm stance on his controversial one-state plan, he remarked, “I support whatever solution we can do to get peace. There are other ideas other than two State, but I support whatever, whatever is necessary to get not just peace, a lasting peace,” peace.”
When asked if he trusted Netanyahu, Trump bluntly stated, “I don’t trust anybody.”
