Washington DC [US], October 7 : US President Donald Trump on Monday (local time) denied that he recently told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to stop being so "f***ing negative" and "take the win" after Hamas accepted parts of Washington's proposal for ending the Gaza war, while saying that it would have to hold talks regarding other portions of the plan, The Times of Israel reported.
"No, it's not true. He's been very positive on the deal," Trump said of Netanyahu.
Trump at times has avoided criticising Netanyahu in public, even as reports have mounted about his private frustration with the Israeli premier, including during a tense phone call last week in which the Axios news site reported the US president responded angrily when Netanyahu said Hamas's ambivalent response was "nothing to celebrate," as per The Times of Israel.
When he was asked whether he had any red lines for Hamas in the fresh round of negotiations that kicked off Monday in Egypt, Trump told reporters in the Oval Office that he does.
"If certain things aren't met, we're not going to do it," Trump said, as quoted by The Times of Israel.
"But I think we're doing very well. Hamas has been agreeing to things that are very important," Trump revealed, without elaborating.
As per The Times of Israel, Trump added that he was "pretty sure" there's going to be a ceasefire and hostage release agreement, saying Hamas had been "fine" as of late.
"I think we're going to have a deal. They've been trying to have a deal with Gaza literally for centuries," Trump said.
He avoided giving a timeline for when a deal will be announced after a reporter asked him if hostages will be released Tuesday to coincide with the two-year anniversary of Hamas's October 7 onslaught that sparked the ongoing war.
Asked whether he was in contact with hostage families about his proposal, Trump said he was and that the relatives of captives have been elated. "They're so happy about it. One said, 'I can't breathe'."
"The people of Israel want this to happen," he continued, referencing the weekly protests in Israel attended by tens of thousands calling for a hostage deal and an end to the war, regularly pushing messages largely against those of Netanyahu's government, as per The Times of Israel.