“He’s forging peace as we speak.”

Benjamin Netanyahu has nominated Donald Trump for a Nobel Peace Prize.

The Israeli leader made the announcement during a dinner at the White House, saying Trump is “forging peace as we speak, and one country and one region after the other”.

“Coming from you in particular, this is very meaningful,” Trump said in response to the nomination.

The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded to someone who does the most for “fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses”, according to the prize’s organisers.

Israel has pressured the US for years to take action against Iran’s nuclear programme, and last month Trump’s administration dropped two “bunker-buster” bombs on three key sites, alongside a barrage of Tomahawk missiles.

Trump took credit for stopping the ’12 day war’ between Iran and Israel, and claimed the US strikes obliterated Iran’s nuclear facilities.

“We have scheduled Iran talks, and they want to,” Trump said yesterday (Monday, July 7). “They want to talk.”

Trump also claimed that the US and Israel are working together to give Palestinians “a better future” and hinted at those in Gaza moving elsewhere.

“If people want to stay, they can stay, but if they want to leave, they should be able to leave,” he claimed.

“We’ve had great cooperation from… surrounding countries, great cooperation from every single one of them. So something good will happen,” Trump added.

Human rights experts criticised Trump for his previous comments on turning Gaza into the ‘Riviera of the Middle East’, and said the plan constituted ethnic cleansing.

Away from the Middle East, fighting continues in Ukraine.

Before taking office, Trump claimed that he would be able to bring an end to the war within 24 hours.

Nearly six months into his second presidency, the war continues.