Trump wants the war in Gaza to end within two or three weeks.

Washington – Saeed Arikat 

On Monday, U.S. President Donald Trump claimed that the Gaza war would reach a "decisive end" within the next two to three weeks, stating that there is a serious "diplomatic push" underway to end the conflict that has been ongoing for nearly two years.

Trump told reporters in the Oval Office: "I believe that within the next two to three weeks, there will be a good and decisive end - a decisive end," without explaining what he meant by "decisive end."

During a meeting in the Oval Office with South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol, Trump said: "They (the Israelis) are now talking about the city of Gaza - there is always talk about something," noting that "at some point, it will be settled, and I tell you it is better to settle it soon. It must be settled soon."

It is worth mentioning that Trump said last week that the only way to end the love is to confront Hamas and free the hostages, which was interpreted by all commentators as a green light for Israel to invade and reoccupy Gaza.

Trump's special envoy, Steve Witkoff, who led U.S. efforts to mediate a hostage deal, reiterated his claim that a post Trump social media post last week, announcing that the remaining hostages would not be released until Hamas is destroyed, sparked the recent movement in ceasefire negotiations. Witkoff said in the Oval Office: "We would not be anywhere other than what the president said last week, which was a statement to Hamas that it is better for them to get their act together and come to the peace table."

It was unclear what Trump based his predictions on, as Israel indicated that it was not interested in the gradual ceasefire proposal that Hamas agreed to last week, especially as the Israeli occupation army is moving forward with its plans to occupy the city of Gaza, which is expected to take at least several months, according to Israeli officials.

It is noted that Trump has often used a "two-week" timeline to predict when major developments would occur, whether domestically or internationally - from the war between Russia and Ukraine, to Iranian nuclear negotiations, to tariff talks - although this timeline has never held up. Trump has also predicted multiple times that there would be an "imminent agreement to free the hostages," but that has not materialized. The president seemed to want to keep the option open to backtrack on the ceasefire in two or three weeks, saying: "It's hard to say, they have been fighting for thousands of years. But I think we are doing a very good job."

He added: "But it must end, but people cannot forget October 7, 2023." Trump's comments come at a time when pressure has increased within Israel on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to accept a temporary ceasefire.

Hamas agreed to a proposed deal that would see the exchange of 10 Israeli detainees for Palestinian prisoners during a 60-day truce, which could be extended to a second phase if both sides agree to the terms of a permanent ceasefire.

Israeli media reports indicated that the Chief of Staff of the Israeli occupation army, Eyal Zamir, said this week that "there is a prisoner deal on the table, and we must seize it." In recent days, Knesset member Benny Gantz has called on opposition party leaders to join Netanyahu's government to accept the deal and marginalize Netanyahu's far-right partners - although other centrist opponents of Netanyahu have rejected this idea.

The Israeli security cabinet is scheduled to meet on Tuesday, although there are conflicting reports about whether it will focus on discussing the ceasefire proposal or the plan to invade the city of Gaza.

Following his prediction of the end of the war, a reporter asked the president whether the United States was engaged in diplomatic efforts to achieve this goal, to which Trump replied: "There have been... very serious diplomatic efforts." U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who was also present at the meeting, added that one condition for ending the war is for Hamas to stop leading Gaza. Rubio said: "The war has never stopped. We have always sought to find a solution. We want it to end. But it must end without Hamas."

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