Trump concluded his visit to the Middle East on Friday without securing a ceasefire deal and his skipping of Israel during the trip was reported as a sign of growing differences between the Israeli and U.S. governments. Trump said he wanted an end to the "brutal war" in Gaza where he acknowledged that "a lot of people are starving."

The withering Israeli aerial campaign appeared to presage the ground operation Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to launch if no ceasefire and hostage deal were struck by the time Trump returned to the U.