Donald Trump said in an interview on Saturday that \u201cwe are very close\u201d to a peace deal in Gaza, even as Israel continued bombing the territory.<\/p>\n
Speaking to Axios<\/a>, Trump said he would push to finalize a deal between Israel and Hamas in the coming days. Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu unveiled a 20-point plan this week. Hamas has accepted part of the deal but is pushing to negotiate<\/a> other aspects.<\/p>\n The US president recounted a conversation he had with the Israeli prime minister as the proposal took place.<\/p>\n \u201cI said: \u2018Bibi, this is your chance for victory.\u2019 He was fine with it,\u201d Trump told Axios. \u201cHe\u2019s got to be fine with it. He has no choice. With me, you got to be fine.\u201d<\/p>\n On Friday, Trump ordered Israel<\/a> to \u201cimmediately\u201d stop bombing Gaza after Hamas agreed to release all hostages in return for Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails. On Saturday, Israeli army radio reported that the Israeli military had been ordered to halt its campaign in Gaza City. However, Gaza\u2019s civil defence agency said<\/a> Israel had continued to carry out dozens of airstrikes and artillery shelling on the area.<\/p>\n Trump told Axios: \u201cWe had great receptivity for our plan \u2013 every country of the world in favor. Bibi is in favor. Hamas went a long way \u2013 they want to do it. Now we will need to close it.\u201d<\/p>\n He said Recep Tayyip Erdo\u011fan, the president of Turkey, had been \u201cvery helpful\u201d in pressing Hamas to agree to release hostages.<\/p>\n \u201cErdo\u011fan helped a lot. He is a tough guy, but he is a friend of mine and he was great,\u201d Trump said.<\/p>\n