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Trump urges Gaza war to end ‘immediately’
24-09-2025
NEW YORK: United States President Donald Trump has told the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) that the war in Gaza must stop immediately, while calling the recent recognition of Palestinian statehood by several Western countries a “reward” for Hamas.
“We have to stop the war in Gaza immediately,” Trump told world leaders in New York on Tuesday, adding that he has been “deeply engaged” in trying to secure a ceasefire.
He reiterated his call for the captives taken from Israel and being held in Gaza to be returned home.
“We have to get it done. We have to negotiate peace. We have to get the hostages back. We want all 20 back,” he said, referring to the 20 of the 48 remaining captives still believed to be alive.
Those who support peace should be united in demanding the release of the captives, he told the UNGA, while rejecting recent Western countries’ recognition of Palestinian statehood.
“As if to encourage continued conflict, some of this body is seeking to unilaterally recognise the Palestinian state. The rewards would be too great for Hamas terrorists, for their atrocities,” Trump said.
His words were in contrast to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’s, who said at a meeting on the two-state solution on Sunday that statehood for Palestinians “is a right, not a reward”.
Sultan Barakat, a professor at Hamad Bin Khalifa University in Qatar, said that while Trump called for the war to stop at once, he fell short of mentioning how.
“He knows that the main reason for [the war] sustaining itself at the moment is the fact that he is supporting it,” Barakat told Al Jazeera, referring to Trump’s support for Israel.
Trump had little criticism for Israel, which launched a deadly war on Gaza in October 2023, after Hamas’s attacks in southern Israel.
Trump blamed the breakdowns in ceasefire negotiations on Hamas, which governs Gaza, and insisted that the Palestinian group “has repeatedly rejected reasonable offers to make peace”.
On the other side of the talks, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has continually been accused of stalling the ceasefire negotiations since the beginning of Israel’s war.
Israel targeted Hamas leaders in the Qatari capital, Doha, this month as the Palestinian leaders were meeting there to discuss the latest truce proposal put forth by the US.
The Israeli prime minister broke the last ceasefire with Hamas in mid-March and imposed a total blockade of the Gaza Strip, which has led to famine and deaths from starvation in the enclave.
Hamas on Tuesday denied any responsibility for the failure to reach a deal to end the war in Gaza. “We have never been an obstacle to reaching an agreement,” it said in a statement.
“The US administration, the mediators and the world know that Netanyahu is the sole obstructionist in all attempts to reach an agreement.”
Hamas said it was ready for a truce that will lead to the release of captives and Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, as well as a withdrawal of the Israeli army from Gaza, but that Netanyahu has refused to commit to a full withdrawal.
This month, Netanyahu decided to seize Gaza City, launching a ground invasion that has killed hundreds of Palestinians and displaced thousands more. (Int’l News Desk)
