Trump 'Green Lights' Israel on Gaza, Pivots to 'Eradication' of Iranian Threat

WEST PALM BEACH (Dec. 29, 2025) – With less than 48 hours remaining before critical regional deadlines expire, President Trump has effectively cleared the diplomatic decks for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Following a high-stakes summit at Mar-a-Lago today, the President endorsed Israel’s compliance with the "October Plan" for Gaza while issuing a stark, kinetic ultimatum to Tehran: the United States will "eradicate" any renewed Iranian military buildup.

The President’s declaration that "Israel has lived up to the plan" signals a decisive shift in U.S. policy. By publicly absolving Jerusalem of fault regarding the stalled Phase 2 of the Gaza agreement, the administration has removed the primary diplomatic fetter aimed at restraining Israeli operations. This move suggests Washington is shifting its focus—and its military readiness—away from the Palestinian deadlock and toward the "new threats" presented by Netanyahu regarding Iran.

This resurgence of tension stems from the aftermath of the "12-Day War" in June 2025, during which a U.S.-Israeli coalition struck Iranian nuclear and ballistic infrastructure. While officials had previously declared those capabilities neutralized, intelligence shared during today’s summit indicates Tehran has accelerated efforts to reconstitute its ballistic missile stockpiles. Trump’s choice of the word "eradicate" is a significant escalation from previous containment rhetoric, raising the immediate probability of new U.S. or Israeli strikes on Iranian soil before the year is out.

The timing creates a volatile window for the region. While the Gaza front remains in a tense diplomatic stasis, a separate deadline for Hezbollah’s disarmament in southern Lebanon expires on December 31. With Israeli airstrikes continuing in Lebanon and Netanyahu now securing tacit U.S. backing for preemptive measures against Tehran, the ceasefire architecture established earlier this year is on the brink of collapse.

For market observers, the Mar-a-Lago summit confirms that the window for military escalation is wide open. Whether through direct U.S. intervention to enforce the "eradication" mandate or an Israeli strike sanctioned by Washington, the final hours of 2025 and the opening of January 2026 now carry a critically heightened risk of renewed state-on-state conflict.