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The presidential election in the United States (US) is less than a month away.
The November 5 election is happening under the shadow of two wars the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip that began on October 7, 2023, and the Russia-Ukraine war that started on February 24, 2022.

The Israel-Hamas war has further spread to West Asia with Israel now fighting Iran and Tehran-aligned Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.

The top contenders in this US presidential election are Donald Trump (Republican Party) and Kamala Harris (Democratic Party).

Harris, who is the current vice president, became the Democratic presidential candidate after President Joe Biden withdrew from the race.

Both Trump and Harris have spoken in length about the two wars but have not offered any realistic ways to stop them.

The Israel-Hamas war merited a few scant mentions over less than five minutes of the September 10 presidential debate on ABC News between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris.

During the debate, Trump reiterated his position that the war in West Asia would have not broken out if he were president.

Hitting out at Harris, Trump said, "When she mentions Israel, all of a sudden she hates Israel.

She wouldn’t even meet with Netanyahu when he went to Congress to make a very important speech. She refused to be there because she was at a sorority party of hers. She wanted to go to the sorority party. She hates Israel," he said.

"If she's president, I believe that Israel will not exist within two years from now," Trump added and expressed his continued support of Israel's offensive in Gaza.

He has also urged Israel to “finish up” the war because it was is losing support.

Harris, meanwhile, said that Trump's remarks about her hating Israel were "absolutely not true."

Harris said that she backed a ceasefire deal in Gaza that would see the release of the remaining Israeli captives, but renewed her pledge to continue to arm Israel.

She also voiced support for the two-state solution.

On Ukraine war
Trump has many times mentioned that he could stop the Russia-Ukraine war in 24 hours if he were elected president again.

During the September 10 presidential debate, the Republican candidate sidestepped a question on whether he wanted Ukraine to win in its war against Russia.

“I want the war to stop,” Trump said when he was directly asked if he wanted Kyiv to win.

On Thursday (Oct 17), Trump blamed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for starting the war against Russia.

Trump has repeatedly called Zelensky the "greatest salesman on Earth" for having solicited and received billions of dollars of US military aid since the war broke out in 2022.

His remarks suggest he could seek to wind down aid for Ukraine if he defeats Harris in the election, a report by the news agency Reuters said.

Kamala Harris, meanwhile, has pledged to continue supporting Ukraine, and she has portrayed a victory for the country as a vital American national security interest. She has frequently rebuked Trump for being unwilling to stand up to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"The reason why Trump says the (Russia-Ukraine) war would be over in 24 hours, because he would just give it up.

And that's not who we are as Americans we brought 50 countries together to support Ukraine in its right to defence," Harris said during the presidential debate.

"If Donald Trump were president right now, Putin would be sitting in Kyiv...," she added.

Poll: Trump leads Harris on dealing with Gaza, Ukraine wars
A recent poll by the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) suggested that Trump had an edge over Harris on who would better navigate the country through the Ukraine war, the Gaza war, and the escalating conflict in West Asia.

In overall support, the poll published on Friday showed Harris and Trump tied across the seven battleground states that could decide the November presidential election.

The poll showed Harris with marginal 2 per cent point lead in Arizona, Georgia and Michigan, Trump up 6 points in Nevada and 1 in Pennsylvania, and the two tied in North Carolina and Wisconsin.

The poll of 600 registered voters in each state conducted on September 28-October 8 had a margin of error of 4% per cent points in each state.

Trump leads Harris in the seven swing states 50 per cent to 39 per cent on who is best able to handle Russian war against Ukraine.

Trump also has a 48 per cent to 33 per cent lead over Harris on who is better suited to handle the Israel-Hamas war, the WSJ poll added.