WASHINGTON (Agencies) — President Donald Trump on Friday urged Israel to escalate its military campaign against Hamas in Gaza, saying it was time to “finish the job” after U.S.-brokered ceasefire negotiations abruptly stalled.
Only weeks earlier, Trump had predicted that a deal to end the fighting, secure the release of hostages and allow humanitarian aid into the enclave was “days away.” This week, however, the White House withdrew its negotiators from indirect talks in Doha, Qatar, after concluding that Hamas was neither “coordinated” nor “acting in good faith.”
Speaking to reporters on the South Lawn before departing for a weekend trip to Scotland, Trump portrayed Hamas as suicidal actors who preferred death to compromise. “I think they want to die, and it’s very, very bad,” he said. “It got to be to a point where you’re gonna have to finish the job.”
Steve Witkoff, Trump’s Middle East envoy leading the Doha negotiations, said he was exploring “alternative options” for securing the release of the remaining hostages after talks with Hamas representatives failed to yield concrete commitments.
Trump offered only tepid criticism of Israel’s handling of the war, describing his recent conversations with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as “sort of disappointing” but declining to call for any de-escalation. “They’re gonna have to fight and they’re gonna have to clean it up. You’re gonna have to get rid of ’em,” he said.
The president’s shift away from a diplomatic breakthrough comes amid mounting international alarm over Gaza’s worsening humanitarian crisis. U.N. agencies say civilians are dying of starvation and disease as aid convoys struggle to reach the territory. One U.N. official this week described Gazans as “walking corpses.”
Regional mediators Egypt and Qatar issued a joint statement calling the suspension of talks “normal in the context of these complex negotiations” and affirmed their commitment to resuming discussions aimed at a lasting ceasefire.
In Israel, hard-line cabinet ministers welcomed the collapse of negotiations, calling for a total halt to aid deliveries and an expansion of military operations until Hamas is entirely dismantled.
With diplomatic momentum stalled and hunger mounting in Gaza, Trump’s declaration that Israel must “finish the job” underscores the deepening impasse and raises fresh doubts about prospects for ending the 21-month-long conflict.