United Nations Security Council.
| Photo Credit: AP

With a fragile Israel-Hamas ceasefire and hostage deal holding, President Donald Trump says he’s now turning his attention to bringing Russia’s war on Ukraine to an end and is weighing providing Kyiv long-range weaponry as he looks to prod Moscow to the negotiating table.

Ending the wars in Ukraine and Gaza was central to Mr. Trump’s 2024 reelection pitch, in which he persistently pilloried President Joe Biden for his handling of the conflicts.

Pause, not peace: Editorial on the Hamas-Israel ceasefire agreement 

Yet, like his predecessor, Mr. Trump also has been stymied by President Vladimir Putin as he’s unsuccessfully pressed the Russian leader to hold direct talks with Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky to end the war that is nearing its fourth year.

But fresh off the Gaza ceasefire, Mr. Trump is showing new confidence that he can finally make headway on ending the Russian invasion. He’s also signalling that he’s ready to step up pressure on Mr. Putin if he doesn’t come to the table soon.

“Interestingly we made progress today, because of what’s happened in the Middle East,” Mr. Trump said of the Russia-Ukraine war on Wednesday (October 15, 2025) evening as he welcomed supporters of his White House ballroom project to a glitzy dinner.

Earlier this week in Jerusalem, in a speech to the Knesset, Mr. Trump predicted the truce in Gaza would lay the groundwork for the U.S. to help Israel and many of its Middle East neighbours normalise relations. But Mr. Trump also made clear his top foreign policy priority now is ending the largest armed conflict in Europe since World War II.

“First we have to get Russia done,” Mr. Trump said, turning to his special envoy Steve Witkoff, who has also served as his administration’s chief interlocutor with Mr. Putin. “We gotta get that one done. If you don’t mind, Steve, let’s focus on Russia first. All right?”

Trump weighs Tomahawks for Ukraine

Mr. Trump is set to host Mr. Zelensky for talks Friday, their fourth face-to-face meeting this year.

Ahead of the meeting, Mr. Trump has said he’s weighing selling Kyiv long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles, which would allow Ukraine to strike deep into Russian territory — if Mr. Putin doesn’t settle the war soon. Mr. Zelensky, who has long sought the weapons system, said it would help Ukraine put the sort of pressure on Russia needed to get Putin to engage in peace talks.

Mr. Putin has made clear that providing Ukraine with Tomahawks would cross a red line and further damage relations between Moscow and Washington.

But Mr. Trump has been undeterred.

“He’d like to have Tomahawks,” Mr. Trump said of Mr. Zelensky on Tuesday. “We have a lot of Tomahawks.”

Agreeing to sell Ukraine Tomahawks would be a splashy move, said Mark Montgomery, an analyst at the conservative Foundation for Defense of Democracies in Washington. But it could take years to supply and train Kyiv on the Tomahawk system.

Mr. Montgomery said Ukraine could be better served in the near term with a surge of Extended Range Attack Munition (ERAM) missiles and Army Tactical Missile System, known as ATACMS. The US already approved the sale of up to 3,350 ERAMs to Kyiv earlier this year.

The Tomahawk, with a range of about 1,600 km, would allow Ukraine to strike far deeper in Russian territory than either the ERAM (460 km) or ATACMS (or 300 km).

“To provide Tomahawks is as much a political decision as it is a military decision,” Mr. Montgomery said. “The ERAM is shorter range, but this can help them put pressure on Russia operationally, on their logistics, the command and control, and its force disbursement within several hundred kilometers of the front line. It can be very effective.”

Signs of White House interest in new Russia sanctions

Mr. Zelensky is expected to reiterate his plea to Mr. Trump to hit Russia’s economy with further sanctions, something the Republican, to date, has appeared reluctant to do.

Congress has weighed legislation that would lead to tougher sanctions on Moscow, but Mr. Trump has largely focused his attention on pressuring NATO members and other allies to cut off their purchases of Russian oil, the engine fuelling Moscow’s war machine.

Waiting for Mr. Trump’s blessing is legislation in the Senate that would impose steep tariffs on countries that purchase Russia’s oil, gas, uranium and other exports in an attempt to cripple Moscow economically.

Though the president hasn’t formally endorsed it — and Republican leaders do not plan to move forward without his support — the White House has shown, behind the scenes, more interest in the bill in recent weeks.

Administration officials have gone through the legislation in depth, offering line edits and requesting technical changes, according to two officials with knowledge of the discussions between the White House and the Senate.

That has been interpreted on Capitol Hill as a sign that Mr. Trump is getting more serious about the legislation, sponsored by close ally Sen Lindsey Graham, along with Sen Richard Blumenthal.

A White House official said the administration is working with lawmakers to make sure that “introduced bills advance the president’s foreign policy objectives and authorities.”

The official, who was granted anonymity to discuss private deliberations, said any sanctions package needs to give the president “complete flexibility”.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Wednesday the administration is waiting for greater buy-in from Europe, which he noted faces a bigger threat from Russian aggression than the US does.

“So all I hear from the Europeans is that Putin is coming to Warsaw,” Mr. Bessent said. “There are very few things in life I’m sure about. I’m sure he’s not coming to Boston. So, we will respond… if our European partners will join us.”

Published – October 16, 2025 12:06 pm IST

Israeli planes and tanks pounded areas across the Gaza Strip overnight and on Sunday (October 5, 2025), destroying several residential buildings, witnesses said, as Palestinians desperately awaited implementation of a U.S. plan to end the war.

U.S. President Donald Trump, who had called for an end to the bombing, said on Saturday (October 4, 2025) on his Truth Social platform that Israel had agreed to an “initial withdrawal line” inside Gaza and that “when Hamas confirms, the Ceasefire will be IMMEDIATELY effective.”

The Israeli escalation comes as Egypt prepares to host delegates from Hamas, Israel and the U.S., and Qatar, to kick off talks over the implementation of the most advanced effort yet to halt the conflict.

Sensitive Issues

Hamas had drawn a welcoming response from Mr. Trump on Friday (October 3, 2025) by saying it accepted certain key parts of his 20-point peace proposal, including ending the war, Israel’s withdrawal, and the release of Israeli hostages and Palestinian captives.

But the group has left some issues subject to further negotiation, as well as questions unanswered, such as whether it would be willing to disarm, a key demand from Israel to end the war.

“Progress would depend on whether Hamas would agree to the map, which shows the Israeli army would remain in control of most of the Gaza Strip,” said a Palestinian official, close to the talks. “Hamas may also ask for a strict timetable for the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. The first phase of talks will determine how things are going to proceed,” he told Reuters, asking not to be named.

In Gaza City, which Israel describes as one of Hamas’s last bastions, Israeli forces pressed ahead with attacks and warned residents who left against returning, saying it was a “dangerous combat zone”.

On Sunday (October 5, 2025), witnesses said Israeli planes escalated attacks against targets across the city, Gaza’s biggest urban centre.

This followed a tense night in which drones dropped grenades on the rooftops of residential buildings and troops blew up explosive-laden vehicles, demolishing dozens of houses in two Gaza City neighbourhoods, Sabra and Sheikh Radwan.

Where is Trump?

“Where is Trump in all of this?” said Rami Mohammad-Ali, 37, from Gaza City, now displaced in the city’s western side, near the beach. “The explosions don’t stop, the drones drop bombs everywhere, as if nothing has happened. Where is the truce Trump told us about?” he asked.

Local health authorities said at least one Palestinian was killed, and several others were wounded in those attacks. Three other people were killed in separate Israeli strikes across the enclave, medics said.

Amjad Al-Shawa, head of the Palestinian NGOs Network, which liaises with the United Nations and international humanitarian organisations, said Gaza City has begun experiencing acute shortages of food and fuel, days after Israel blocked the route from the south to the north.

“We are speaking about tens of thousands of children who suffer malnutrition, elderly who need extra care, those are in danger now because of the Israeli occupation blockade of Gaza City and the escalation of the attacks,” Mr. Shawa told Reuters.

Under Mr. Trump’s plan, all Israeli hostages, alive and deceased, were due to be released within 72 hours of Israel publicly accepting the agreement.

But it was not clear at what precise point the clock on that 72-hour deadline would start ticking, given Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed to the timeline several days before Hamas responded. Israel says 48 hostages remain, 20 of whom are alive.

There may be logistical challenges too. Sources close to Hamas told Reuters that handing over living hostages could prove relatively straightforward, but retrieving bodies of dead ones amid the huge devastation and rubble of Gaza may take longer than a few days to achieve.

Mr. Trump said on Friday (October 3, 2025) he believed Hamas had shown it was “ready for a lasting PEACE” and he called on Mr. Netanyahu’s Government to halt airstrikes in Gaza.

Domestically, Mr. Netanyahu is caught between growing pressure to end the war — from hostage families and a war-weary public — and demands from hardline members of his coalition who insist there must be no let-up in Israel’s campaign in Gaza. Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said on X that halting attacks on Gaza was a “grave mistake”.

Mr. Smotrich and Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, also a hardliner, have significant influence in Netanyahu’s Government and have threatened to bring it down if the Gaza war ends.

Israel began attacking Gaza after the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on Israel in which some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed and 251 taken hostage, according to Israeli tallies. Israel’s campaign has killed more than 67,000 people in Gaza, most of them civilians, according to Gaza health authorities, and decimated the enclave.

Published – October 05, 2025 03:20 pm IST

President Donald Trump speaks upon departing a news conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in the State Dining Room of the White House, on Monday, September 29, 2025, in Washington.
| Photo Credit: AP

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attend a press conference at the Prime Minister’s office in Jerusalem, February 16, 2025.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Israel’s security cabinet was set to discuss on Monday (February 17, 2025) the next phase of the ceasefire in Gaza, after top U.S. diplomat Marco Rubio and Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu presented a united front against Hamas and Iran.

Mr. Rubio was in Israel on his first Middle East trip as President Donald Trump’s secretary of state, and was slated to leave for Saudi Arabia on Monday (February 17, 2025).

“Hamas cannot continue as a military or a government force… they must be eliminated,” Rubio said of the Palestinian Islamist group that fought Israel for more than 15 months in Gaza until a fragile ceasefire took effect on January 19.

Standing beside him, Mr. Netanyahu said the two allies had “a common strategy”, and that “the gates of hell will be opened” if all hostages still held by militants in Gaza are not freed.

The comments came a day after Hamas freed three Israeli hostages in exchange for 369 Palestinian prisoners — the sixth such swap under the ceasefire deal, which the United States helped mediate along with Qatar and Egypt.

Israel and Hamas have accused each other of violating the ceasefire, which has been further strained by Trump’s widely condemned proposal to take control of rubble-strewn Gaza and relocate its more than two million residents.

“We discussed Trump’s bold vision for Gaza’s future and will work to ensure that vision becomes a reality,” Mr. Netanyahu said.

The scheme that Mr. Trump outlined earlier this month as Netanyahu visited Washington lacked details, but he said it would entail moving Gazans to Jordan or Egypt.

Trump’s Gaza plan

Washington, Israel’s top ally and weapons supplier, says it is open to alternative proposals from Arab governments, but Mr. Rubio has said for now, “the only plan is the Trump plan”.

However, Saudi Arabia and other Arab states have rejected his proposal, and instead favour the creation of a Palestinian state alongside Israel.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Sunday said establishment of a Palestinian state was “the only guarantee” of lasting Middle East peace.

After visiting Saudi Arabia, Rubio will also travel to the United Arab Emirates.

The United States has been pushing for a potentially historic deal in which Saudi Arabia would recognise Israel, but Trump’s Gaza plan is complicating that effort.

Saudi Arabia on Palestinian state

Riyadh has said repeatedly that it needs to see progress towards a Palestinian state before taking such a step.

Hamas and Israel are implementing the first, 42-day phase of the ceasefire, which nearly collapsed last week.

“At any moment the fighting could resume. We hope that the calm will continue and that Egypt will pressure Israel to prevent them from restarting the war and displacing people,” said Nasser al-Astal, 62, a retired teacher in southern Gaza’s Khan Yunis.

Since the truce began last month, 19 Israeli hostages have been released in exchange for more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners.

Out of 251 people seized in Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, which sparked the war, 70 remain in Gaza, including 35 the Israeli military says are dead.

In a statement, Rubio condemned Hamas’s hostage-taking as “sick depravity” and called for the immediate release of all remaining captives, living and dead, particularly five Israeli-American dual nationals.

Negotiations on a second phase of the truce

Negotiations on a second phase of the truce, aimed at securing a more lasting end to the war, could begin this week in Doha, a Hamas official and another source familiar with the talks have said.

Netanyahu’s office said he would convene a meeting of his security cabinet on Monday to discuss phase two.

It said the prime minister was also dispatching negotiators to Cairo Monday to discuss the “continued implementation” of phase one.

The team would “receive further directives for negotiations on Phase II” after the cabinet meeting, the office said.

Gaza City:

Hamas on Wednesday called for worldwide “solidarity marches” over the weekend to protest a US plan endorsed by Israel to displace Palestinians from the war-ravaged Gaza Strip.

“We… call on the masses of our people, our Arab and Islamic nation, and the free people of the world to go out in massive solidarity marches” from Friday through Sunday to denounce “the plans to displace our Palestinian people from their land”, Hamas said in a statement.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Washington DC:

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday (local time) doubled down on his threat of the United States “owning” the Gaza Strip by displacing the 2.2 million Palestinians living in the enclave to neighbouring countries as he met Jordan King Abdullah II– now of America’s closest Middle East allies. 

“We’re going to have Gaza. We don’t have to buy. There’s nothing to buy. We will have Gaza…We’re going to take it, we’re going to hold it, we’re going to cherish it,” Trump told reporters from the Oval Office as he met the Jordanian King.

But Trump, who made his fortune as a real estate tycoon did however deny that he would seek to personally develop property in Gaza. “No. I’ve had a great career in real estate,” he said.

Trump, who had earlier said his plan to “take over Gaza” would not include a right of return for displaced Palestinians, now said the redeveloped land will be for people in the Middle East.

“We’re going to get it going eventually, where a lot of jobs are going to be created for the people in the Middle East. It’s going to be for the people in the Middle East,” he said. 

He added that Palestinians living in Gaza would be happy to leave because they are currently “living a terrible life” after more than a year of war following the October 7 terror attacks on Israel by Hamas.

“Look at the way they’re living now. Nobody’s nobody’s living like that in the entire world. They’re living under buildings that are mostly fallen down and will continue to fall down, and they’re living under people are being killed every day. The conditions are horrible. There are no conditions anywhere in the world that are worse than the Gaza Strip,” he said.

The US leader stunned the world when he announced a proposal last week for the United States to “take over” Gaza, envisioning rebuilding the devastated territory into the “Riviera of the Middle East” — but only after resettling Palestinians elsewhere, with no plan for them ever to return.

Pushback

The American President’s plan to “own” Gaza and place it under “US authority” faced pushback from the visiting Abdullah II, who informed that Egypt was working on a plan for how countries in the region could “work” with Trump on his shock proposal.

“I reiterated Jordan’s steadfast position against the displacement of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. This is the unified Arab position. Rebuilding Gaza without displacing the Palestinians and addressing the dire humanitarian situation should be the priority for all,” Abdullah said on social media after the talks.

Trump has repeatedly suggested that neighbouring countries such as Jordan and Egypt could absorb Gaza’s population. “We will be in Saudi Arabia to discuss how we can work with the President and with the United States. So I think let’s wait until the Egyptians can come and present it to the President and not get ahead of us,” Abdullah said.

The Jordanian monarch also appeared to offer a sweetener to Trump, who the day before the visit floated the possibility of halting US aid to Jordan if it did not take in refugees.

“One of the things that we can do right away is take 2,000 children, cancer children who are in a very ill state. That is possible,” Abdullah said as Trump welcomed him and Crown Prince Hussein in the Oval Office.

Trump replied that it was “really a beautiful gesture” and said he didn’t know about it before the Jordanian monarch’s arrival at the White House.

The American President also retreated from his previous talk of an aid halt to Jordan and Egypt, saying: “I don’t have to threaten that. I do believe we’re above that.”

The Egyptian foreign ministry later said it plans to “present a comprehensive vision for the reconstruction” of the Gaza Strip that ensures Palestinians remain on their land.

It said Egypt “hopes to cooperate” with Trump’s administration on the matter, with the goal of “reaching a fair settlement of the Palestinian cause”.

Future Of Gaza Truce

Meanwhile, Israel has threatened to resume “intense fighting” in Gaza if hostages were not released this weekend, while Hamas insisted it remained committed to the ceasefire deal and accused Israel of violations.

Under the terms of the truce, which has largely halted more than 15 months of fighting in Gaza, captives were to be released in batches in exchange for Palestinians in Israeli custody. So far, Israel and Hamas have completed five hostage-prisoner swaps. But the deal has come under increasing strain in recent days, prompting diplomatic efforts to salvage it and Hamas to say it was “committed to the ceasefire”.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that “if Hamas does not return our hostages by Saturday noon, the ceasefire will end, and the IDF (Israeli military) will resume intense fighting until Hamas is decisively defeated”.

His threat echoed that of US President Donald Trump who said on Monday that “hell” would break loose if Hamas failed to release “all” Israeli hostages by Saturday.
 

Washington:

Jordan’s King Abdullah II told Donald Trump Tuesday that his country would take in some 2,000 sick children from war-torn Gaza but pushed back against the US president’s plan to take over the Palestinian territory and send its population into exile.

“I reiterated Jordan’s steadfast position against the displacement of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. This is the unified Arab position. Rebuilding Gaza without displacing the Palestinians and addressing the dire humanitarian situation should be the priority for all,” Abdullah said on social media after the talks.

However, he told Trump  that Egypt was working on a plan for how countries in the region could “work” with Trump on the proposal.

The Jordanian monarch also appeared to offer a sweetener to Trump, who had just the day before the visit floated the possibility of halting US aid to Jordan if it did not take refugees.

“One of the things that we can do right away is take 2,000 children, cancer children who are in a very ill state. That is possible,” Abdullah said as Trump welcomed him and Crown Prince Hussein in the Oval Office.

Trump replied that it was “really a beautiful gesture” and said he didn’t know about it before the Jordanian monarch’s arrival at the White House.

The US leader stunned the world when he announced a proposal last week for the United States to “take over” Gaza, envisioning rebuilding the devastated territory into the “Riviera of the Middle East” — but only after resettling Palestinians elsewhere, with no plan for them ever to return.

Abdullah urged patience and said that Egypt was coming up with a response and that Arab nations would then discuss it at talks in Riyadh.

“Let’s wait until the Egyptians can come and present it to the president and not get ahead of ourselves,” Abdullah said.

Trump retreated from his previous talk of an aid halt to Jordan and Egypt, saying: “I don’t have to threaten that. I do believe we’re above that.”

– ‘Tough guy’ –
Trump however showed kept pushing his plan to “own” Gaza despite the fact that it is home to more than two million Palestinians, saying that it would be held under “US authority.”

“We don’t have to buy. We’re going to have Gaza,” Trump said.

“We’re going to take it, we’re going to hold it, we’re going to cherish it.”

But Trump, who made his fortune as a real estate tycoon did however deny that he would seek to personally develop property in Gaza. “No. I’ve had a great career in real estate,” he said.

The meeting came as the Gaza ceasefire appears increasingly fragile, after Trump warned on Monday that “all hell” would break out if Hamas fails to release all hostages by Saturday.

Trump said he doubted that the Palestinian militant group would abide by the ultimatum — but played down the risk of a longer threat to efforts to create a lasting peace between Israel and Hamas.

“It’s not going to take a long time,” Trump said. “A bully is the weakest person, and they’re bullies. Hamas is bullies.”

The Jordanian king and crown prince earlier met Trump’s national security advisor, Mike Waltz.

King Abdullah is a key US ally but last week rejected “any attempts” to take control of the Palestinian territories and displace its people.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who is expected to visit the White House later this week, urged on Tuesday the reconstruction of Gaza “without displacing Palestinians.”

Analysts say the issue is an existential one for Jordan in particular.

Half of Jordan’s population of 11 million is of Palestinian origin, and since the establishment of Israel in 1948, many Palestinians have sought refuge there.

In 1970 in what became known as “Black September,” clashes erupted between the Jordanian army and Palestinian groups led by the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).

It resulted in the expulsion of those groups.

But Jordan is also keenly aware of the economic pressure Trump could exercise. Every year, Jordan receives around $750 million in economic assistance from Washington and another $350 million in military aid.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)