Trump was referring to his meeting with Netanyahu at his Mar-a-Lago residence in late July, when Netanyahu visited the United States. He also met President Biden and Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris during his trip.

There has been an increased risk of a broader war in the Middle East after the recent killings of Palestinian Islamist group Hamas’ leader Ismail Haniyeh in Iran and Hezbollah military commander Fuad Shukr in Beirut. Both drew threats of retaliation against Israel.

In an event later on Thursday about tackling anti-Semitism, Trump criticized Biden and Harris’ months-long calls for a ceasefire in Gaza.

“From the start, Harris has worked to tie Israel’s hand behind its back, demanding an immediate ceasefire, always demanding ceasefire,” Trump said, adding it “would only give Hamas time to regroup and launch a new October 7 style attack.

“I will give Israel the support that it needs to win, but I do want them to win fast,” he added.

In the same event, Trump — who was convicted earlier this year of 34 counts of falsifying business records to influence the 2016 presidential election — also labelled pro-Palestinian supporters calling for an end to U.S. support for Israel’s war as “pro-Hamas thugs” and “jihad sympathizers.” He threatened to arrest and deport them from the U.S. if he became president again.

On Thursday, Netanyahu’s office and Trump both separately denied an Axios report that said they had spoken the previous day about Gaza ceasefire and hostage release talks.

Biden laid out a three-phase ceasefire proposal in an address on May 31. Washington and regional mediators have since tried arranging the Gaza ceasefire-for-hostages deal but have run into repeated obstacles.

The Axios report cited two U.S. sources. One source said the reported call was intended to encourage Netanyahu to take the deal, but stressed he did not know if this is indeed what the former president told Netanyahu.

Egypt, the United States and Qatar have scheduled a new round of Gaza ceasefire negotiations this week.

Washington, Israel’s most important ally, has said that a ceasefire in Gaza will reduce the rising threat of a wider war.

The latest bloodshed in the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict was triggered on Oct. 7 when Hamas attacked Israel, killing 1,200 and taking about 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.

Israel’s subsequent assault on the Hamas-governed enclave has since killed more than 40,000 Palestinians, according to the local health ministry, while also displacing nearly the entire population of 2.3 million, causing a hunger crisis and leading to genocide allegations at the World Court that Israel denies.