US President Donald Trump on Friday said Israel should escalate its military campaign in Gaza and “clean it up” after Hamas rejected a US-backed ceasefire proposal, suggesting the militant group has no interest in peace.

“Hamas really didn’t want to make a deal. I think they want to die,” Trump said bluntly before leaving for a trip to Scotland. “It’s very, very bad. It got to be to a point where you have to finish the job.”

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The president’s warning came a day after his Middle East peace envoy, Steve Witkoff, announced that the United States was pulling back from ongoing negotiations to reassess strategy in Washington.

Trump, who played a key role in negotiating the release of Edan Alexander — the last US-Israeli citizen held hostage by Hamas — said the group’s refusal to compromise on the final stages of talks showed it was committed to continued violence.

“Now we’re down to the final hostages, and they know what happens after you get the final hostages,” Trump said. “Basically because of that, they really didn’t want to make a deal.”

With the humanitarian situation in Gaza deteriorating rapidly, and reports mounting of starvation among civilians, Trump signaled that diplomacy may no longer be viable.

“They’ll have to fight and clean it up,” he said, backing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s military campaign. “They (Hamas) will be hunted down.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel was now mulling “alternative” options to achieve its goals of bringing its hostages home from Gaza and ending Hamas rule in the enclave.

US envoy Steve Witkoff said Hamas was to blame for the impasse, and Netanyahu said Witkoff had got it right.

Senior Hamas official Basem Naim said on Facebook that the talks had been constructive, and criticised Witkoff’s remarks as aimed at exerting pressure on Israel’s behalf.

“What we have presented – with full awareness and understanding of the complexity of the situation – we believe could lead to a deal if the enemy had the will to reach one,” he said.

Mediators Qatar and Egypt said there had been some progress in the latest round of talks. They said suspensions were a normal part of the process and they were committed to continuing to try to reach a ceasefire in partnership with the US.

MASS HUNGER

Mass starvation has taken hold in Gaza, with international aid agencies warning that food and medical supplies are nearly depleted for the territory’s 2.2 million residents. Israel’s siege of the enclave — tightened in March and only partially eased in May — has left the population teetering on the brink of a man-made famine.

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“The Gaza Strip does not need flying aerobatics,” said Ismail Al-Thawabta, head of the Hamas-run Gaza media office, dismissing recent airdrops by Israel and other countries as cosmetic. “It needs an open humanitarian corridor and a steady daily flow of aid trucks to save what remains of the lives of besieged, starving civilians.”

Over the past 24 hours alone, Gaza’s health authorities reported nine more deaths from malnutrition and starvation. The toll is rising by the day, with dozens having already died in recent weeks due to worsening hunger.

The United Nations confirmed Friday that supplies of specialised therapeutic food — critical for treating children with severe acute malnutrition — are nearly gone. UN agencies blame Israeli restrictions for hampering humanitarian operations.

Israel, for its part, insists it has allowed sufficient food into the territory and accuses the UN of mismanagement. “This is a deliberate ploy to defame Israel,” the Israeli foreign ministry said in a statement. The UN has pushed back, saying it is doing its best under highly restricted conditions and has demanded Israel provide evidence for claims that UN aid workers are affiliated with Hamas.

UN aid chief Tom Fletcher, in a letter seen by Reuters, asked Israel to substantiate its accusations, amid growing international scrutiny of Israel’s role in worsening Gaza’s humanitarian collapse.

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Meanwhile, the war rages on. Palestinian officials said 21 people were killed Friday in Israeli airstrikes and gunfire, including five in a strike on a Gaza City school sheltering displaced families. Among the dead was journalist Adam Abu Harbid, whose body was carried through the streets with his blue flak jacket marked “PRESS” laid across him.

Israel’s military campaign began after Hamas-led militants attacked border towns on October 7, 2023, killing around 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages. Since then, Gaza’s health ministry says nearly 60,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli operations, with much of the strip reduced to rubble.

– Ends

Published By: Aashish Vashistha Published On: Jul 26, 2025

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By Kevin Dotson, CNN

(CNN) — Major League Soccer announced Friday that Inter Miami stars Lionel Messi and Jordi Alba will be suspended for the team’s next match against FC Cincinnati on Saturday.

The suspension comes after Messi and Alba skipped the MLS All-Star Game without permission earlier this week in Austin, Texas.

“Per league rules, any player who does not participate in the All-Star Game without prior approval from the league is ineligible to compete in their club’s next match,” MLS said in a statement.

Neither of the two players have responded publicly to the suspensions but the ruling drew the ire of club owner Jorge Mas, who called it a “draconian” punishment.

“They don’t understand the decision,” Mas said on Friday according to the Associated Press. “They don’t understand why not attending an exhibition match leads directly to a suspension.

“That’s not right,” Mas added. “That’s not right to the players.”

The 38-year-old Messi and 36-year-old Alba have both played a heavy slate of matches this season, competing in MLS play as well as the FIFA Club World Cup and other competitions. Messi also played this summer for his native Argentina in pair of friendlies.

“I know Lionel Messi loves this league. I don’t think there’s a player – or anyone – who has done more for Major League Soccer than Messi,” MLS commissioner Don Garber wrote in a statement following the league’s announcement of the suspensions.

“I fully understand, respect, and admire his commitment to Inter Miami, and I respect his decision.

“Unfortunately, we have a long-standing policy regarding participation in the All-Star Game, and we had to enforce it. It was a very difficult decision.”

Garber concluded by saying that league will work with the MLS players to take a “hard look” at the policy moving forward.

An already stout test for Inter this weekend now becomes even more daunting as the team, which sits in the middle of the playoff picture in the Eastern Conference, will compete without their centerpiece Messi as they face conference-leading Cincinnati.

Messi and Alba will be eligible to return to the pitch on Wednesday when Inter takes on Atlas as the club begins its Leagues Cup campaign. Miami’s next MLS match is scheduled for August 10 when the club will take on intrastate rival Orlando City SC.

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People in sports Lionel Messi Soccer See all topics Follow

Major League Soccer announced Friday that Inter Miami stars Lionel Messi and Jordi Alba will be suspended for the team’s next match against FC Cincinnati on Saturday.

The suspension comes after Messi and Alba skipped the MLS All-Star Game without permission earlier this week in Austin, Texas.

“Per league rules, any player who does not participate in the All-Star Game without prior approval from the league is ineligible to compete in their club’s next match,” MLS said in a statement.

Neither of the two players have responded publicly to the suspensions but the ruling drew the ire of club owner Jorge Mas, who called it a “draconian” punishment.

“They don’t understand the decision,” Mas said on Friday according to the Associated Press. “They don’t understand why not attending an exhibition match leads directly to a suspension.

“That’s not right,” Mas added. “That’s not right to the players.”

The 38-year-old Messi and 36-year-old Alba have both played a heavy slate of matches this season, competing in MLS play as well as the FIFA Club World Cup and other competitions. Messi also played this summer for his native Argentina in pair of friendlies.

“I know Lionel Messi loves this league. I don’t think there’s a player – or anyone – who has done more for Major League Soccer than Messi,” MLS commissioner Don Garber wrote in a statement following the league’s announcement of the suspensions.

“I fully understand, respect, and admire his commitment to Inter Miami, and I respect his decision.

“Unfortunately, we have a long-standing policy regarding participation in the All-Star Game, and we had to enforce it. It was a very difficult decision.”

Garber concluded by saying that league will work with the MLS players to take a “hard look” at the policy moving forward.

An already stout test for Inter this weekend now becomes even more daunting as the team, which sits in the middle of the playoff picture in the Eastern Conference, will compete without their centerpiece Messi as they face conference-leading Cincinnati.

Messi and Alba will be eligible to return to the pitch on Wednesday when Inter takes on Atlas as the club begins its Leagues Cup campaign. Miami’s next MLS match is scheduled for August 10 when the club will take on intrastate rival Orlando City SC.

Donald Trump The Middle East Israel-Hamas war See all topics Follow

Only a few weeks ago, President Donald Trump seemed confident a deal was days away that would end the fighting in Gaza, secure the release of hostages and allow aid to flow into an enclave where people are starving to death.

Now, Trump’s optimism seems to have vanished. The president pulled back his negotiators from ceasefire talks this week after the US deemed Hamas neither “coordinated” nor “acting in good faith.” Steve Witkoff, Trump’s Middle East envoy, said he was looking into “alternative options” for getting the hostages out.

And Trump, rather than urging an immediate return to the negotiating table, signaled Friday it was time for Israel to escalate its military campaign, even as images of starving children in Gaza lead to mounting global outrage.

“I think they want to die, and it’s very, very bad,” Trump said of Hamas before leaving for a weekend trip to Scotland. “It got to be to a point where you’re gonna have to finish the job.”

Whether Trump’s shift in posture is a true reflection of the talks breaking down — or, as some Western officials suggested, a tactical step meant to jolt Hamas and break a deadlock — wasn’t clear.

But his words suggested he would do little to pressure Israel to pull back on its 21-month-long military campaign in Gaza, despite a growing humanitarian crisis that led one UN official this week to label Gazans “walking corpses.”

Trump declined to describe his recent conversations with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — whose actions in Gaza and Syria this month have surprised and frustrated him — beyond calling them “sort of disappointing.”

“They’re gonna have to fight and they’re gonna have to clean it up. You’re gonna have to get rid of ‘em,” Trump said of Israel going after Hamas.

It was a stark acknowledgement from the president that his attempts to broker a new ceasefire — which seemed earlier this month in its final stages — had fallen off course. A failure to end the Gaza conflict, along with his parallel struggles to end Russia’s war in Ukraine, have proven frustrating for Trump as he jockeys for a Nobel Peace Prize.

His pessimism did not entirely match other signals emerging from the region. Egypt and Qatar said they would move forward in mediating for a lasting ceasefire in Gaza, calling the latest suspension in talks “normal in the context of these complex negotiations,” according to a joint statement posted by the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

A senior Israeli official told CNN that the talks have “not at all” collapsed, and said there is still an opportunity for the negotiations to resume.

And some US officials said they hoped both the president’s comments Friday, paired with the decision by Witkoff on Thursday to pull back from the ceasefire talks, would push Hamas into a more conciliatory negotiating stance.

Still, the United States’ sudden pull back sent shockwaves Thursday night through Doha, the Qatari capital where the negotiations have been taking place.

“This is an earthquake,” said one source with direct knowledge of the talks. “We’re dealing with the aftershock.”

As has been the case for months, the sticking points in the talks include how and when the war will end permanently, the number of Palestinian prisoners who will be released and where the Israeli military will redeploy in Gaza, according to people familiar with the negotiations.

Speaking to reporters Friday on the South Lawn as his helicopter awaited, Trump blamed the breakdown in talks squarely on Hamas, which he said had seen its leverage diminished after dozens of its hostages were either released or died in custody.

“Now we’re down to the final hostages, and they know what happens after you get the final hostages, and basically, because of that, they really didn’t want to make a deal,” Trump said, echoing a sentiment that one US official said Netanyahu conveyed when he met with Trump for dinner at the White House earlier this month.

Whether Trump’s comments will actually pressure Hamas into agreeing to the existing proposal to end the war remains to be seen, but they did appear designed in part to try to jog Hamas back to the realm of what is achievable.

In the wake of Witkoff’s Thursday statement, the senior Israeli official said Israel hopes Hamas will “reconnect itself to reality” so the remaining gaps can be bridged.

Speaking to CNN on Friday, State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce predicted Trump and Witkoff’s efforts would eventually yield results, though she declined to indicate what direction the talks would head next.

“We’ve tried. The world has watched this. What the options are — clearly there are many tools in President Trump’s tool chest, many options that Special Envoy Witkoff has,” Bruce told Kate Bolduan. “So, they are very smart, adept individuals who know the players. And I expect that we’ll have some success.”

Neither Bruce, nor Trump, nor any other administration official seemed willing to place a timeline on when that success might come, perhaps wary after Trump predicted in early July that a deal would be struck within a week.

But as the starvation crisis in Gaza spirals into a humanitarian catastrophe, urgency is growing to complete a deal. During a meeting in Tunis on Friday, Tunisian President Kais Saied presented Trump’s senior Africa adviser Massad Boulos — who is also the father-in-law of Trump’s daughter Tiffany — with photos of malnourished children, desperate for food and eating sand.

“It is absolutely unacceptable,” Saied could be heard saying, according to AFP. “It is a crime against all of humanity.”

At the White House, Trump said it was Hamas that was preventing aid from being distributed. And he said the US hadn’t received enough credit for the help it had already provided.

“People don’t know this, and we didn’t certainly get any acknowledgement or thank you, but we contributed $60 million to food and supplies and everything else,” he said. “We hope the money gets there, because you know, that money gets taken. The food gets taken. We’re going to do more, but we gave a lot of money.”

An internal US government review found no evidence of widespread theft by Hamas of US-funded humanitarian aid in Gaza.

Meanwhile, top US allies have adopted a tougher stance on Israel’s military campaign. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, whom Trump will meet in Scotland this weekend, on Friday said “Israel’s disproportionate military escalation in Gaza” was “indefensible.”

And French President Emmanuel Macron, in a surprise late night social media post, said France would move to recognize a Palestinian state at September’s United Nations General Assembly, a step that angered Israel and that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio called “a slap in the face to the victims of October 7th.”

Trump sounded less troubled by the move, which he instead dismissed as pointless.

“The statement doesn’t carry any weight,” he said. “He’s a very good guy. I like him. But that statement doesn’t carry weight.”

CNN’s Jeremy Diamond and Jennifer Hansler contributed to this story.

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Washington —

The US military killed a senior ISIS leader in a raid in Syria on Friday, as well as two of his ISIS-affiliated sons, according to a release from US Central Command.

The senior leader, Dhiya’ Zawba Muslih al-Hardani, as well as his two adult sons, Abdallah Dhiya al-Hardani and Abd al-Rahman Dhiya Zawba al-Hardani, “posed a threat to US and coalition forces, as well as the new Syrian Government,” the CENTCOM release said. Three children and three women who were on-site were unharmed. Few other details about the raid were provided.

While the US has conducted anti-ISIS missions with partner forces without some regularity over recent months and years, it is less common for US forces to conduct ground raid operations instead of airstrikes.

“We will continue to relentlessly pursue ISIS terrorists wherever they operate,” CENTCOM commander Gen. Erik Kurilla said in the release. “ISIS terrorists are not safe where they sleep, where they operate, and where they hide.”

Over recent months and years, the US has continued supporting and conducting anti-ISIS missions with partner and coalition forces in Syria and Iraq. In May, the US military supported six operations — five in Iraq, one in Syria — which resulted in the death of two ISIS operatives and the detention of two others, including an ISIS leader, CENTCOM said last month.

In March, the US military conducted a precision airstrike in Iraq and killed Abdallah Makki Muslih al-Rifai, the terror group’s chief of operations and Delegated Committee Emir, and one other ISIS operative.

The US announced it was beginning a withdrawal of roughly half its forces in Syria in April, which the Pentagon said was a sign of the “significant steps” made towards degrading ISIS capabilities in the region. Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said at the time that the US military would ultimately have less than a thousand US forces in the country as a result.

Friday’s raid comes just weeks after the Trump administration said it was revokingthe foreign terrorist organization designation of Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the group once led by Syria’s interim president. It also comes after President Donald Trump signed an executive order officially ending US sanctions on Syria.