President-elect Donald Trump would like to see a cease-fire deal in Gaza that results in Hamas-held hostages being freed before he takes office, according to Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC).
“Trump is more determined than ever to release the hostages and supports a ceasefire that includes a hostage deal. He wants to see it happening now,” Graham told Axios in an interview published Friday.
“I want people in Israel and in the region to know that Trump is focused on the hostages issue,” the senator continued. “He wants the killing to stop and the fighting to end.”
Graham added: “I hope President Trump and the Biden administration will work together during the transition period to release the hostages and get a ceasefire.”
The South Carolina Republican recently visited the Middle East – his second trip of the month – and met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Graham argued that Trump, 78, needs a cease-fire deal done before his inauguration so he can focus on normalizing relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia and other foreign policy goals.
Earlier this month, Trump told The Post that he discussed the ongoing war in the Middle East during his recent Oval Office meeting with President Biden.
“We talked very much about the Middle East,” Trump said.
“I wanted to know his views on where we are and what he thinks. And he gave them to me, he was very gracious,” the president-elect added.
On Tuesday, the US helped broker a truce between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon, which is expected to ease tensions between the terror group and the Jewish State.
Biden, 81, indicated after the Israel-Hezbollah agreement that his administration will continue to push for a cease-fire deal in Gaza.
Hamas, the terror group responsible for the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, claimed Wednesday that it is open to bringing an end to the 13-month conflict.
“We are committed to cooperating with any effort to reach a cease-fire in Gaza and we are interested in ending the aggression against our people,” Hamas said in a statement.
More than 44,000 Palestinians have been killed in the conflict, according to the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry, which does not distinguish terrorist deaths from civilian ones.
The Trump-Vance transition team and Graham’s office did not respond to The Post’s request for comment.
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