Trump team rethinks Gaza strategy after 6 months of failure
'We need to do some serious rethinking,' a visibly frustrated Secretary of State Marco Rubio told a group of hostage families on Friday after the latest round of
Gaza talks broke down
, two people who attended the meeting tell Axios.
Six months into his presidency, President
Trump
is no closer to ending the war in Gaza. The humanitarian crisis is worse than ever, negotiations are deadlocked, and the U.S. and Israel are increasingly isolated internationally.
Trump signaled Friday that it's time for Israel to further escalate the war to 'get rid' of Hamas and 'finish the job.'
Israeli officials weren't sure whether that was a negotiating tactic or a genuine change of course from Trump — a 'green light' for Netanyahu to use even more extreme military measures. 'It's terrible what happened with Hamas. Tapping everybody along. We'll see what happens. We'll see what response Israel has to that. But it is getting to be that time,' Trump told reporters after landing in Scotland on Friday.
While meeting with hostage families at the State Department Friday, Rubio said several times that the administration needed to 'rethink' its strategy on Gaza and 'come to the president with new options,' according to the sources.
Over the past six months, Trump has given Netanyahu an almost free hand to do whatever he wants in Gaza — from military operations, to hostage negotiations, to the distribution of humanitarian aid.
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