President Trump on Friday said Hamas has no interest in making a deal and signaled that Israel should escalate its military campaign to eliminate the terror group following the collapse of ceasefire and hostage negotiations.
“It was too bad, Hamas didn’t really want to make a deal. I think they want to die and it’s very, very bad,” Trump told reporters outside the White House. He added: “It got to a point where you’re going to have to finish the job,” referring to Israel’s ongoing military offensive.
“We’re down to the final hostages, and basically because of that they really didn’t want to make a deal,” Trump said.
Trump’s comments came one day after the U.S. and Israel withdrew their negotiating teams from Doha, where proximity talks with Hamas had been underway for nearly three weeks. U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff said the withdrawal was due to Hamas not negotiating in “good faith.”
Meanwhile, pressure mounted on Israel from some of America’s closest allies. French President Emmanuel Macron said Thursday that France would move to recognize a Palestinian state, becoming the first G7 nation to do so. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese added, “The situation in Gaza has gone beyond the world’s worst fears.”
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