President-elect Donald Trump wants a Gaza ceasefire deal that would result in the release of hostages held by Hamas before he takes office, according to Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.).
“Mr. Trump is more determined than ever to free hostages and supports a ceasefire that includes a hostage deal. He wants to see that happen now,” Graham said. told Axios In an interview published Friday.
“I want the people of Israel and the region to know that President Trump is focused on the hostage crisis,” the senator continued. “He wants the killing to stop and the fighting to end.”
“We hope that President Trump and the Biden administration will work together during the transition period to release the hostages and achieve a ceasefire,” Graham added.
The South Carolina Republican recently visited the Middle East, his second trip this month, and met with Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Graham argued that the 78-year-old president needed to reach a cease-fire agreement before taking office so he could focus on normalizing relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia and other foreign policy goals.
Earlier this month, President Trump told the Post that during a recent Oval Office meeting with President Biden, they discussed the ongoing Middle East war.
“We talked a lot about the Middle East,” President Trump said.
“I wanted to get his views on what kind of situation we were in and what he thought. And he gave them to me, he was very kind.” the president-elect added.
On Tuesday, the United States helped broker a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah, which is expected to ease tensions between the terrorist organization and the Jewish state.
Mr. Biden, 81, said his administration would continue to push for a ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip following the agreement between Israel and Hezbollah.
The terrorist organization Hamas, which masterminded the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, insisted on Wednesday that it is ready to end the 13-month conflict.
“We are committed to cooperating with all efforts towards a ceasefire in Gaza and are interested in ending the aggression against our people,” Hamas said in a statement.
More than 44,000 Palestinians have died in the conflict, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between terrorist deaths and civilian deaths.
The Trump-Vance transition team and Graham's office did not respond to requests for comment from the Post.
