Trump ‘Upset’ by Photos of Gazan Children — Urges Israel to ‘End’ War: Report
President Donald Trump reportedly grew “upset” after seeing images of Gazan children and babies, and is privately urging Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to bring his country’s military campaign in Gaza to an end, according to senior White House officials.
Trump was especially disturbed by images of Palestinian children wounded or killed in airstrikes, officials told Axios, and pressed Israeli leadership to resume humanitarian aid. That pressure reportedly played a role in Israel’s Sunday cabinet decision to allow limited supplies, including baby food and other essentials, back into the territory.
“The president is frustrated about what is happening in Gaza,” one official said. “He wants the war to end, he wants the hostages to come home, he wants aid to go in and he wants to start rebuilding Gaza.”
The Israeli military is pursuing a renewed push to its operation to control Gaza while relocating the Strip’s 2 million residents to a so-called “humanitarian zone” as ceasefire negotiations show little progress.
Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, has been working both sides of the table: in direct talks with Netanyahu and his adviser Ron Dermer, and through a backchannel to Hamas.
Despite the lack of movement, the White House is resisting the suggestion that Trump’s support for Israel is wavering. His hostage envoy, Adan Boehler, told Fox News on Monday that reports claiming the U.S. is threatening to abandon Israel are “fake.”
Boehler insisted: “The President may be saying, ‘Hey, listen, let’s try to end the war,’ he might speak strongly… But his support is ironclad.”
Even so, the conflict is clearly testing the relationship between the two leaders, Axios journalist Barak Ravid reported.
“There is a lot of frustration by this crisis getting dragged on,” a second White House official told him, describing the war as a distraction from Trump’s broader regional ambitions.
Trump, who viewed his recent trip to the Middle East as a success, is said to believe Gaza is the last major obstacle to securing a longer-term peace and a legacy-defining win.
