Trump: ‘Great progress’ made on reaching Gaza hostage-ceasefire deal as result of Iran strikes

Speaking at the NATO summit in The Netherlands, US President Donald Trump says there is “great progress” on reaching a ceasefire deal in Gaza.

“I think that because of this attack that we made,” he continues, referring to strikes on Iran’s nuclear program, “I think we’re going to have some very good news… Gaza is very close.”

Trump rejects leaked intelligence reports indicating that US and Israeli strikes on Iran only set its nuclear program back a few months.

“They really don’t know,” says Trump, adding that the attacks resulted in a “total obliteration” of three key Iranian nuclear sites. He says it was a “devastating attack,” and that destroying Iran’s nuclear facilities is what forced Tehran to settle for a ceasefire.

The “conversion facility” Iran needed for making nuclear weapons is gone, says US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, without specifying the location of the facility. “Everything underneath that mountain is in bad shape,” Rubio insists, adding that Tehran’s nuclear program is “way behind” what it was before the operation.

“Any assessment that tells you it was something otherwise is speculating with other motives,” insists US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, adding that the intelligence report in question has “low confidence.”