US President Donald Trump on Monday claimed that the Gaza war will reach a “conclusive ending” in the next two or three weeks, saying that there was a serious “diplomatic push” underway to end the nearly two-year conflict.
“I think within the next two to three weeks, you’re going to have pretty good, conclusive — a conclusive ending,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.
What Trump based his prediction on was unclear, given that Israel has indicated it is not interested in the phased ceasefire proposal that Hamas agreed to last week. Rather, the Israeli government has instead been moving ahead with plans to conquer Gaza City, which is expected to take at least several months.
Trump has repeatedly used a “two-week” timeline to predict when major developments will unfold, both at home and abroad —from the Russia-Ukraine war, to Iranian nuclear negotiations, to talks on tariffs — though it has often not held up. Earlier in the summer, Trump repeatedly predicted an imminent deal to free hostages that did not materialize.
He appeared to hedge Monday’s prediction regarding the Gaza war: “It’s a hard thing to say because they’ve been fighting for thousands of years. But I think we’re doing a very good job,” he said. “But it does have to end, but people can’t forget October 7,” the date of the 2023 Hamas-led massacre of some 1,200 people that launched the war
Trump’s comments come as pressure has mounted within Israel for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to accept a temporary ceasefire. Earlier this month, following Israel’s decision to move forward with the conquest of Gaza City, Hamas accepted a proposed agreement that would see 10 living hostages exchanged for Palestinian security prisoners during a 60-day truce that could be extended to a second phase if the sides agreed to terms on a permanent ceasefire.
Protesters gather for a demonstration organized by the families of hostages held by Palestinian terrorists in the Gaza Strip calling for action to secure the captives’ release, outside the Kirya military headquarters in Tel Aviv, on August 23, 2025. (Jack Guez/AFP)
IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir reportedly said this week that “there is a [hostage] deal on the table, we need to take it.” And in recent days, centrist MK Benny Gantz has called on fellow opposition party leaders to join Netanyahu’s government in order to accept the deal and sideline Netanyahu’s far-right partners — though other centrist Netanyahu opponents have rejected that idea.
On Tuesday, relatives of the 50 hostages held by Hamas in Gaza are due to hold a day of protests aimed at ramping up pressure for their release. Israel believes at least 20 of the captives are alive, though, in separate remarks earlier on Monday, Trump said the number was lower.
Israel’s security cabinet is reportedly slated to meet on Tuesday, though there are conflicting reports over whether it will focus on discussing the ceasefire proposal or the Gaza City conquest plan.
Following Trump’s prediction of the war’s end, a reporter asked the president whether the US was engaging in diplomacy toward that goal.
“There has been… a very serious diplomatic push,” Trump responded. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who was also in the room, added that one of the conditions for the end of the war was Hamas no longer leading Gaza — which is also one of Israel’s key demands.
“It [has] never stopped. We’ve always looked to find a solution. We want it to end. [But] it has to end with no Hamas,” Rubio said.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks as Vice President JD Vance listens during a meeting between President Donald Trump and South Korean President Lee Jae Myung in the Oval Office of the White House, August 25, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Netanyahu on Monday indicated that the planned offensive was still the priority, saying that his security cabinet’s decision to order the military to take over Gaza City in the coming months was “unequivocal.”
“Israel will act with determination and strength to bring back all of its hostages and to defeat Hamas,” Netanyahu told US Senator Joni Ernst of Iowa in his Jerusalem office, his office said in a statement.
Netanyahu also told Ernst, a Republican whom he previously hosted in April, that “these missions are intertwined.”
US Sentator Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), left, and Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem on August 25, 2025. (Haim Zach / GPO)
In addition, US special envoy Steve Witkoff, who has led American efforts to broker a hostage deal, repeated his claim that a social media post by Trump last week, declaring that the remaining hostages will only be freed after Hamas has been destroyed, is what sparked recent movement in ceasefire negotiations.
“We wouldn’t be anywhere but for the president’s truth last week, which was a statement to Hamas that they better get their act together and get to the peace table,” Witkoff said in the Oval Office.
However, two Arab diplomats familiar with the negotiations told The Times of Israel that Hamas had already approved the latest ceasefire proposal by the time Trump posted on Truth Social on August 18.
The US, like Israel, has yet to say whether it backs the latest proposal accepted by Hamas, which the Arab diplomats said is nearly identical to the one proposed by Witkoff several months ago after Egypt and Qatar succeeded in coaxing Hamas to walk back from demands it made in late July that led talks to stall.
The White House said last week that it was reviewing the proposal, but has yet to follow up on the matter. Israel, which is proceeding with the Gaza City offensive, has also not taken a position on the deal.
US President Donald Trump speaks in the Oval Office of the White House, August 25, 2025, in Washington. (AP/ Evan Vucci)
Trump was also asked whether he has been in contact with Netanyahu lately, against the backdrop of a UN-backed report declaring that famine has begun striking Gaza.
Trump said he has a good relationship with the Israeli premier and that they worked together to strike Iran’s nuclear program.
“Right now, they’re talking about Gaza City. They’re always talking about something,” he said. “At some point, it’s going to get settled… You better get it settled soon.”
“With that being said, it’s got to get over with because between the hunger and all the other problems — worse than hunger, death, pure death, people being killed,” Trump said.
The president also reiterated his claim that the US has donated $60 million for Gaza humanitarian aid. The US State Department confirmed two weeks ago that the figure is actually $30 million and that only half of that figure had been transferred for use by the controversial US- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.
Hundreds of people have been shot dead surrounding the foundation’s distribution sites, whose perimeters are patrolled by the IDF. The IDF has acknowledged firing “warning shots” around the crowds but says the death tolls are inflated, without providing figures of its own.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
