Hungary's leader Orbán predicts Trump will end support for Ukraine in comments before EU summit

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Donald Trump's biggest European fan, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, predicted on Friday that a new U.S. administration under Trump will cease providing support to Ukraine in its fight against Russia's full-scale invasion.

Orbán's comments were a signal that Trump's recent election could drive a wedge among European Union leaders on the question of the war.

Hungary's leader hosted the second of two days of summits on Friday in the capital, Budapest, just days after Trump's election victory. The war in Ukraine was high on the agenda for the gathering of the EU's 27 leaders, most of whom believe continuing to supply Kyiv with weapons and financial assistance are key elements for the continent's security.

The nationalist Hungarian leader has long sought to undermine EU support for Ukraine, and routinely blocked, delayed or watered down the bloc’s efforts to provide weapons and funding and to sanction Moscow for its invasion. He has sought to use the summits to make his case to other leaders that they should rethink their commitments to the war-ravaged country.

In comments to state radio before Friday's summit, Orbán, who is considered close to both Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, reiterated his long-held position that an immediate cease-fire should be declared, and suggested that Ukraine has already lost its fight.

“The situation on the front is obvious, there’s been a military defeat. The Americans are going to pull out of this war,” Orbán said.

The Hungarian leader has cast himself as the exemplar of some in the EU who are skeptical of providing indefinite support to Ukraine, especially in light of uncertainty over whether U.S. assistance could evaporate under Trump.

He said Friday that Trump's reelection had created a “new situation” for Europe, and that the continent "cannot finance this war alone.”

But numerous EU leaders made a point to downplay the risk of a shift in U.S. policies drifting across the Atlantic into European capitals. Arriving at the summit, the EU’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, said a new U.S. administration wouldn't lead Europe to change course.

“We cannot outsource our capacity of action. Whatever happens in the U.S., we have our interests, we have our values,” Borrell said.

Italy’s hard-right leader, Premier Giorgia Meloni, who is aligned with Orbán on many issues but breaks with him sharply on Russia’s war, said: “As long is there is a war, Italy is on the side of Ukraine.”

Western support is crucial for Kyiv to sustain the costly war of attrition, but Trump's repeated statements criticizing U.S. aid, and his claims that he could bring the conflict to a rapid end, have led to uncertainty over how long the help will continue.

At a gathering on Thursday of European leaders in Budapest, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy objected to Trump’s claim that Russia’s war with Ukraine could be ended in a day, something he and his European backers fear would mean peace on terms favorable to Putin and involving the surrender of territory.

“If it is going to be very fast, it will be a loss for Ukraine,” Zelenskyy said.

Despite Orbán's attempts to throttle aid packages, EU leaders have largely found workaround solutions to any obstruction to providing Zelenskyy with assistance, and have been able to signal their commitment to supporting Ukraine in its fight, regardless of who occupies the White House.

Closing out the summit on Friday, European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen said the EU would “discuss with our American friends also the fact that Russia is not only a threat to Europe, but a threat to the global security as a whole” in an effort to dissuade a new Trump administration from abandoning aid to Ukraine.

“We see that technology from China and Iran is used by Russia on the battlefield,” she continued. "It shows that the security of the Indo-Pacific and Europe are interconnected, and so are the European and the United States interests in this course.”

From left, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, European Council President Charles Michel and Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban arrive for a media conference at the end of an EU Summit at the Puskas Arena in Budapest, Hungary, Friday, Nov. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen addresses a media conference at the end of an EU Summit at the Puskas Arena in Budapest, Friday, Nov. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Denes Erdos)

Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban addresses a media conference at the end of an EU Summit at the Puskas Arena in Budapest, Friday, Nov. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Denes Erdos)

Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban, left, and European Council President Charles Michel, right, wait for the start of a plenary session during an EU Summit at the Puskas Arena in Budapest, Friday, Nov. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Denes Erdos)

Germany's Chancellor Olaf Scholz arrives for a plenary session during an EU Summit at the Puskas Arena in Budapest, Friday, Nov. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Denes Erdos)

Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk, center, arrives for an EU Summit at the Puskas Arena in Budapest, Hungary, Friday, Nov. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

French President Emmanuel Macron, left, speaks with Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban as he arrives for an EU Summit at the Puskas Arena in Budapest, Hungary, Friday, Nov. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen waits for the start of a plenary session during an EU Summit at the Puskas Arena in Budapest, Friday, Nov. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Denes Erdos)

Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni speaks with the media as she arrives for an EU Summit at the Puskas Arena in Budapest, Hungary, Friday, Nov. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

Netherland's Prime Minister Dick Schoof arrives for an EU Summit at the Puskas Arena in Budapest, Hungary, Friday, Nov. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

Lithuania's President Gitanas Nauseda arrives for an EU Summit at the Puskas Arena in Budapest, Hungary, Friday, Nov. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell speaks with the media as he arrives for an EU Summit at the Puskas Arena in Budapest, Hungary, Friday, Nov. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

Denmark's Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen speaks with the media as she arrives for an EU Summit at the Puskas Arena in Budapest, Hungary, Friday, Nov. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban gestures during arrivals for an EU Summit at the Puskas Arena in Budapest, Hungary, Friday, Nov. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, center, speaks with Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban, right, as she arrives for an EU Summit at the Puskas Arena in Budapest, Hungary, Friday, Nov. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban, second left, speaks with the media at arrivals for an EU Summit at the Puskas Arena in Budapest, Hungary, Friday, Nov. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, center left, speaks with Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban, center right, as he arrives for the European Political Community (EPC) Summit at the Puskas Arena in Budapest, Hungary, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Petr Josek)

Israeli airstrikes killed at least 26 people across the Gaza Strip on Thursday, including three children and two high-ranking officers in the Hamas-run police force, according to Palestinian and hospital officials.

One strike early Thursday hit a tent in an Israeli-declared humanitarian zone known as Muwasi, where hundreds of thousands of displaced people are sheltering in tents during the cold and rainy winter. Israel said that strike targeted a senior member of Hamas’ internal security apparatus.

Another strike killed at least eight Palestinians in central Gaza. The dead were members of local committees that help secure aid convoys, according to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, which received the bodies. An Associated Press reporter at the hospital confirmed the toll.

Israel’s war in Gaza has killed over 45,500 Palestinians, according to local health officials, who say women and children make up more than half the fatalities. The officials do not distinguish between civilians and combatants in their tally.

The war was sparked by Hamas-led militants' Oct. 7, 2023 attack into Israel. They killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted around 250 that day. Around 100 hostages are still inside Gaza, at least a third of whom are believed to be dead.

Here's the latest:

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Israeli airstrikes killed at least 26 Palestinians across the Gaza Strip on Thursday as the 15-month war with Hamas dragged on.

A strike killed five policemen in the southern city of Khan Younis and their bodies were taken to Nasser Hospital, medical officials there said.

Three Palestinians were killed in a separate Israeli strike in central Gaza that hit a group of people walking in the street in the built-up Maghazi refugee camp, according to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital.

An earlier strike in nearby Deir al-Balah killed eight people who were helping secure humanitarian aid convoys, the hospital said.

At least 10 people were also killed Thursday morning by an airstrike in southern Gaza's Muwasi area, inside an Israeli-declared humanitarian zone. The dead included three children and two senior police officers. Israel said that strike targeted a senior member of Hamas’ internal security apparatus.

Israel has repeatedly targeted Gaza's police force, which was part of the Hamas-run government, contributing to a breakdown of law and order that has made it difficult for humanitarian groups to deliver aid. Israel accuses Hamas of hijacking aid for its own purposes.

JERUSALEM -- The Israeli military has claimed responsibility for a nighttime raid in Syria last September in which it says dozens of commandos destroyed a top-secret Iranian-led missile factory.

Israeli military spokesman Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani said Thursday that Iran, working with its Syrian and the Hezbollah allies, planned to build hundreds of precision guided missiles per year at the factory that could be transferred to Lebanon. He said the facility was located in western Syria around the town of Masyaf near the Lebanese border.

He said Israel had been monitoring the underground facility for several years, but decided to strike at a time when Israel was at war with Hezbollah and the factory was becoming operational.

“This facility posed a clear threat to the state of Israel and this is why we had to take action,” he said.

Shoshani said over 100 special force soldiers took part in the Sept. 8 raid, backed by dozens of aircraft. Calling it one of Israel’s most complex operations in years, he said soldiers arrived by helicopter and entered the facility, which he said was dug deep into the side of a mountain.

In bodycam footage released by the Israeli military, special forces are seen moving through wide underground hallways and seizing documents, before a large explosion destroys the site. The video, which could not be independently verified, also showed images of what the army said was missile-manufacturing equipment.

At the time, Syrian state media reported 18 deaths from a series of Israeli airstrikes in the area. Shoshani said there were no Israeli casualties, and that Israel also damaged another missile-production facility in Lebanon during the war.

Israel and Hezbollah reached a cease-fire in late November, halting nearly 14 months of fighting.

JERUSALEM — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was released from the hospital Thursday after recovering from prostate surgery Sunday.

Doctors at Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital said Netanyahu was recuperating satisfactorily, although he still has a period of recovery ahead. Medical follow-ups will continue as usual, according to a hospital statement.

Despite doctor’s orders to remain hospitalized, the 75-year-old leader had briefly left the facility to participate in a vote in Israel’s parliament on Tuesday.

KYIV, Ukraine – Ukraine’s president says his country is poised to reestablish diplomatic ties with Syria after the fall of President Bashar Assad and sharply increase agricultural exports to Lebanon despite being engaged in an almost three-year war with Russia.

The developments came after a recent visit to those countries by Ukraine’s top diplomat and its government minister for farming, according to a statement from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday. Ukraine is aiming to build up its security and trade relations in the Middle East, he said.

Ukraine and Syria are assessing cooperation within international organizations, and Syria could this year become a “reliable partner” for Ukraine, Zelenskyy said.

The Ukrainian officials met with Syria’s new de facto authorities led by the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham. The insurgents had ousted Assad, a longtime ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, in early December.

Ukrainian agricultural exports to Lebanon are around $400 million a year but Zelenskyy said he hopes to at least double that.

Ukraine is a leading world producer of wheat, corn, barley, sunflower oil and other food products.

JERUSALEM — The Israeli military says it targeted a senior member of Hamas’ internal security apparatus in a strike in the Gaza Strip that Palestinian officials say killed nine other people, including three children.

The strike early Thursday hit a tent in an Israeli-declared humanitarian zone known as Muwasi, where hundreds of thousands of displaced people are sheltering in tents during the cold and rainy winter.

The military said Hossam Shahwan, a senior officer in the Hamas-run police force in Gaza, was involved in gathering intelligence used by Hamas’ armed wing in attacks on Israeli forces.

Maj. Gen. Mahmoud Salah, another senior police official, was also killed in the strike.

The military says Hamas militants hide among civilians and blames the group for their deaths in the nearly 15-month war, which was ignited by Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attack into Israel.

The Hamas-run government had a police force numbering in the tens of thousands that maintained a high degree of public security before the war while also violently suppressing dissent.

The police have largely vanished from the streets in many areas after being targeted by Israel, contributing to the breakdown of law and order that has hindered the delivery of desperately needed humanitarian aid.

DAMASCUS, Syria — The forces together with armed vehicles were deployed in the city of Homs Thursday to look for the militants affiliated with ousted President Bashar Assad, state media reported.

SANA, citing a military official, said that the new de facto authorities led by the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham had set up centers in Syria’s third-largest city for former soldiers and militants to hand over their weapons, similar to other parts of Syria.

In early December, a lightning insurgency took out the decades-long rule of Assad in less than two weeks. HTS has since run much of war-torn Syria under the authority of its leader Ahmad al-Sharaa.

Officials who were part of Assad's notorious web of intelligence and security apparatus have been arrested over the past few weeks.

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — An Israeli strike has killed at least eight Palestinian men in the central Gaza Strip.

The dead were members of local committees that help secure aid convoys, according to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, which received the bodies. An Associated Press reporter at the hospital confirmed the toll.

Earlier on Thursday, an Israeli airstrike in southern Gaza killed at least 10 people, including three children and two senior officers in the Hamas-run police.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military on the strikes.

Israel has repeatedly targeted the police, contributing to a breakdown of law and order in the territory that has made it difficult for humanitarian groups to deliver aid. Israel accuses Hamas of hijacking aid for its own purposes.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Al Jazeera has condemned the Palestinian Authority’s decision to bar it from operating in the occupied West Bank, saying the decision was “in line” with similar actions taken by Israel.

In a statement Thursday, the Qatar-based broadcaster accused the Western-backed authority of seeking to “hide the truth about events in the occupied territories, especially what is happening in Jenin and its camps.”

The Palestinian Authority, which cooperates with Israel on security matters, launched a rare crackdown on anti-Israel militants in the urban Jenin refugee camp last month. The authority has international support but is unpopular among many Palestinians, with critics portraying it as a subcontractor of the Israeli occupation.

The Palestinian Authority announced the suspension of Al Jazeera’s activities on Wednesday, accusing it of incitement and interfering in Palestinian internal affairs. The Palestinian Authority exercises limited autonomy in parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Israel banned Al Jazeera last year, accusing it of being a mouthpiece of Hamas. Israeli strikes have killed or wounded several Al Jazeera reporters in Gaza, and Israel has accused some of them of being militants. Israeli forces raided Al Jazeera’s West Bank headquarters last year, but the broadcaster has continued to operate in the territory.

Al Jazeera denies the allegations and accuses Israel of trying to silence its coverage. Its 24-hour reporting from Gaza has focused on the deaths of Palestinian civilians. It has also broadcast Hamas and other militant videos in their entirety, showing attacks on Israeli forces and hostages speaking under duress.

Palestinian children play next to a building destroyed by Israeli army strikes in the central Gaza Strip town of Khan Younis, Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Israeli soldiers stand in a bullet-ridden house during a tour for army personnel to observe the damage caused by the Oct. 7 Hamas onslaught at Kibbutz Kfar Aza, near the Israeli-Gaza border, in Israel, Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

An Israeli soldier jumps off an armoured vehicle at a staging area near the Gaza border in southern Israel, Thursday Jan. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Tsafrir Abayov))

Palestinians prepare the body for the funeral of a man killed during an Israeli army strike in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, Thursday Jan. 2, 2025. The strike killed at least eight men members of local committees that help secure aid convoys, according to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, which received the bodies.(AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

A man reacts in grief as the body of 8-year-old Adam Farajallah is brought to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital following an airstrike on a house in the Bureij refugee camp, in the central Gaza Strip town of Deir al-Balah Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

A man mourns over the body of a Palestinian man killed during an Israeli army strike in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, Thursday Jan. 2, 2025. The strike killed at least eight men members of local committees that help secure aid convoys, according to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, which received the bodies.(AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Palestinian girls collect donated food at a food distribution center in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Thursday Jan. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

An Israeli soldier covers his ears as an artillery gunner fires into the Gaza Strip from a position in southern Israel, Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025.(AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

A destroyed part of Gaza City as seen from southern Israel, Thursday Jan. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Tsafrir Abayov))

Palestinians inspect the site of an earlier Israeli army strike in the Muwasi area, in Khan Younis, central Gaza Strip, Thursday Jan. 2, 2025. According to Palestinian medical officials, the airstrike killed at least 10 people, including three children and two senior police officers, in an Israeli-designated humanitarian zone in the Gaza Strip. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)