The Daily Populous Tuesday May 20th, 2025 morning edition
Authored by m.jpost.com and submitted by RightCapital1243

US President Donald Trump has been increasing pressure on Israel over recent days, an anonymous source told The Washington Post on Monday.

"Trump has been letting Israel know 'we will abandon you if you do not end this war,'" the source added, speaking on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the press.

The increase in pressure from Trump came after Israel called up tens of thousands of reservists and ramped up Gaza bombings, the Washington Post added.

However, according to an official speaking to Ynet, the White House denied the report that Trump would abandon Israel.

"That is a lie. The idea that we would abandon Israel is absurd," the official said.

US National Security Council spokesperson James Hewitt told Ynet after the report that "Israel has never had a better friend in history than President Trump. We continue to work closely with Israel to secure the release of the hostages, ensure that Iran never obtains nuclear weapons, and strengthen regional security in the Middle East." REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL nominee and former US president Donald Trump speaks at an event commemorating the first anniversary of the October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel on Monday in Doral, Florida. (credit: MARCO BELLO/REUTERS)

The Washington Post further reported that the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs stated that Israel approached it to “resume limited aid delivery” and that logistical discussions were ongoing due to the rapidly changing situation on the ground.

The UN's emergency relief coordinator, Tom Fletcher, wrote that the aid is "a drop in the ocean," and that "it must reach the civilians who need it so urgently, and we must be allowed to scale up.”

In a video posted on social media, Netanyahu said that while Israel was deploying “massive force to take control of all of the Gaza Strip … we cannot reach a point of starvation, for practical and diplomatic reasons," the Washington Post cited.

The IDF allowed humanitarian aid to begin entering the Gaza Strip on Monday, after a two-and-a-half-month pause dating back to early March, at almost the same time that it significantly escalated the new invasion of the Strip with five divisions.

Netanyahu to launch alternative, US-backed humanitarian aid mechanism

Netanyahu said on Monday that Israel would launch an alternative, US-backed humanitarian aid mechanism in the coming days, the Washington Post added.

"On the recommendation of the IDF, and out of the operational need to enable the expansion of the intense fighting to defeat Hamas, Israel will introduce a basic amount of food to the population in order to ensure that a famine crisis does not develop in the Gaza Strip," the Prime Minister's Office said. "Such a crisis would jeopardize the continuation of the 'Gideon Chariots' operation to defeat Hamas.

US President Donald Trump, speaking Friday in the United Arab Emirates on the final day of his Mideast swing, said, “We’re looking at Gaza. And we’re going to get that taken care of. A lot of people are starving.”

Yonah Jeremy Bob, Amichai Stein, and Herb Keinon contributed to this report.

imhereforthemeta on May 19th, 2025 at 23:30 UTC »

I assume he’s trying to extort a deal out of Israel- or he would do the same thing to Russia.

gman5852 on May 19th, 2025 at 22:42 UTC »

"until tomorrow when I announce renewed friendship"

nimbutimbu on May 19th, 2025 at 22:16 UTC »

How to win friends and influence people version 2.0