GAZA: Iran and Israel will have peace “soon”, US President Donald Trump said in a social media post on Sunday, adding that there were many unspecified meetings happening and that the two countries should make a deal.
Israel and Iran launched fresh attacks on each other overnight into Sunday, killing scores.
“Iran and Israel should make a deal, and will make a deal,” Trump said on Truth Social, adding that “we will have PEACE, soon.”
Trump did not offer any details about the meetings or evidence of progress toward peace. His asser-tion contradicted comments by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said on Saturday that Is-rael’s campaign against Iran would intensify.
A White House spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a request for comment on how Trump and the White House were working to de-escalate the situation in the Middle East.
Trump, who portrays himself as a peacemaker and has drawn criticism from his political base for not being able to prevent the Israel-Iran conflict, cited other disputes that he took responsibility for solv-ing, including between India and Pakistan, and lamented not getting more praise for doing so.
“I do a lot, and never get credit for anything, but that’s OK, the people understand. Make the Middle East great again!” he wrote.
Israel and Iran launched fresh attacks on each other overnight into Sunday, killing scores and raising fears of a wider conflict.
Israeli rescue teams combed through rubble of residential buildings destroyed by Iranian missiles, us-ing sniffer dogs and heavy excavators to look for survivors after at least 10 people, including children, were killed, raising the two-day toll to 13.
Iran has not given a full death toll but said 78 people were killed on Friday and scores more have died since, including in a single attack that killed 60 on Saturday, half of them children, in a 14-storey apart-ment block flattened in Tehran.
Israel launched “Operation Rising Lion” with a surprise attack on Friday morning that wiped out the top echelon of Iran’s military command and damaged its nuclear sites, and says the campaign will continue to escalate in coming days. Iran has vowed to “open the gates of hell” in retaliation.
An official said Israel still had a long list of targets in Iran and declined to say how long the offensive would continue. Those attacked on Saturday evening included two “dual-use” fuel sites that support-ed military and nuclear operations, he said. –Agencies
