JERUSALEM: After getting Iran and Israel to end hostilities, US Pres-ident Donald Trump said on Wednesday that progress was being made to end Israel鈥檚 war on Gaza, as a new ceasefire push began more than 20 months since the start of the conflict.
鈥淚 think great progress is being made on Gaza,鈥 Trump told reporters ahead of a Nato summit in the Netherlands, adding that his special envoy Steve Witkoff had told him: 鈥淕aza is very close.鈥
Key mediator Qatar announced on Tuesday that it would launch a new push for a ceasefire, with Hamas on Wednesday saying talks had stepped up.
鈥淥ur communications with the brother mediators in Egypt and Qatar have not stopped and have inten-sified in recent hours,鈥 Hamas official Taher al-Nunu told AFP.
He cautioned, however, that the group had 鈥渘ot yet received any new proposals鈥 to end the war.
The Israeli government declined to comment on any new ceasefire talks beyond saying that efforts to return Israeli prisoners in Gaza were ongoing 鈥渙n the battlefield and via negotiations鈥.
Trump鈥檚 comments came a day after a US intelligence assessment revealed that US strikes had only set back Iran鈥檚 nuclear programme by just a few months. But on Wednesday, Trump compared the attacks to the end of World War II, arguing that the damage was severe even though available intelligence was inconclusive.
鈥淭he intelligence was 鈥 very inconclusive,鈥 Trump told reporters while meeting with Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte ahead of a summit in The Hague.
Trump said the US strikes were responsible for ending the war between Israel and Iran and compared them to the United States鈥 use of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan, which brought an end to World War Two in 1945.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 want to use an example of Hiroshima, I don鈥檛 want to use an example of Nagasaki, but that was essentially the same thing. That ended that war. This ended the war,鈥 Trump said.
Trump argued that Iran鈥檚 nuclear deal had been set back 鈥渂asically decades, because I don鈥檛 think they鈥檒l ever do it again鈥 and he turned to top advisers to reinforce that message.
Teases nuclear talks
Trump also said the US would hold nuclear talks with Iran next week, teasing the possibility of a deal even after boasting that recent US strikes had crippled Tehran鈥檚 atomic programme.
Insisting on the 鈥渢otal obliteration鈥 of Iran鈥檚 nuclear capabilities, contrary to leaked US intelligence, Trump said, 鈥淭hey鈥檙e not going to be building bombs for a long time,鈥
He added that the strikes had set back the programme by 鈥渄ecades鈥 and that the ceasefire that he declared was going 鈥渧ery well鈥.
Trump later told reporters that Israel and Iran were 鈥渂oth tired, exhausted鈥, going on to say that talks were planned with Iran 鈥渘ext week鈥.
鈥淲e may sign an agreement. I don鈥檛 know,鈥 he added.
Iran鈥檚 death toll
The spokesperson for Iran鈥檚 Health Ministry has released an updated death toll from Israel鈥檚 attacks on Iranian territory, Al Jazeera reported.
In a post on X, Hossein Kermanpour said at least 627 people were killed and 4,870 wounded in Israeli strikes.
Tehran recorded the highest number of casualties, followed by Kermanshah, with Khuzestan, Lorestan, and Isfahan reporting significant losses, he said.
Published in Dawn, June 26th, 2025