President Trump on Friday said he would approve of Israel’s military finishing off Hamas in the Gaza Strip after the terror group rejected a new US-backed cease-fire plan, saying, “I think they want to die.”
Trump said it was time for Israel to “clean it up” — and that he never expected a renewed truce anyway because Hamas has very few Israel hostages left after nearly two years of fighting.
“It was too bad. Hamas didn’t really want to make a deal. I think they want to die,” Trump said as he departed the White House for a trip to Scotland.
“It’s very, very bad. It got to be to a point where you have to finish the job,” he said.
“We’re down to the final hostages. And [the terrorists] know what happens after you get the final hostages. And basically, because of that, they really didn’t want to make a deal.”
In May, Trump secured the release of Edan Alexander, the last US Israeli citizen held hostage after Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, surprise attack on southern Israel, which killed about 1,200 people, mainly civilians, and started the latest war. Alexander, who grew up in Tenafly, NJ, had been serving in the Israeli military when he was captured.
On Friday, Trump also swatted at French President Emmanuel Macron’s plan to symbolically recognize Palestinian statehood. --->READ MORE HERE
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| Photo: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images |
President Trump signaled on Friday that after the breakdown in negotiations for a Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal, he believes Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should escalate the war in order to "get rid" of Hamas.
Why it matters: The crisis in the negotiations comes as the humanitarian situation grows increasingly catastrophic, with more and more reports from the UN and other agencies of Palestinians dying of starvation.
- Trump made the comments after a phone call with Netanyahu.
What he's saying: "Hamas didn't really want to make a deal. I think they want to die and it's very bad. It got to a point where you have to finish the job."
- Trump added that the Israelis "are gonna have to fight and they are gonna have to clean it up — you will have to get rid [of Hamas]," Trump told reporters before departing for a trip to Scotland.
- He added that he always thought Hamas wouldn't want to release the remaining hostages because the group didn't want to lose their "bargaining chip" and "their protection."
- "Now they are going to be hunted down," Trump said of Hamas.
Reality check: Israel has been hunting down Hamas militants in Gaza for nearly two years. --->READ MORE HERE
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