Trump says Hamas will be ‘hunted down' as Gaza ceasefire talks wane
Trump's comments at the White House on Friday appear to suggest that the US and Israel are not ready to guarantee a lasting end to the war but rather a short-term truce to get Israeli captives out of Gaza.
'We're down to the final hostages, and they know what happens after you get the final hostages,' the US president told reporters. 'And basically because of that, they really didn't want to make a deal.'
Trump blamed the Palestinian group solely for the apparent collapse of the ceasefire talks, saying the group is going to be 'hunted down'.
'Hamas didn't really want to make a deal. I think they want to die, and it's very, very bad,' he said.
On Thursday, Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff said Washington was cutting short its involvement in the negotiations, accusing Hamas of showing 'a lack of desire to reach a ceasefire'.
Israel also said it withdrew its negotiators from Qatar, where the ceasefire talks were taking place.Hamas expressed bewilderment at the US position, saying it had made 'a sincere commitment to the success of the mediators' efforts' to reach a deal.
The group also said the mediators — Qatar and Egypt — welcomed its 'constructive and positive' position.
Talks have been ongoing for months to secure a 60-day truce that would see the release of 10 Israeli captives and a pause in the Israeli bombardment of Palestinians in Gaza.
Hamas has insisted that it is seeking a permanent ceasefire.
Witkoff previously said the truce 'will lead to a lasting peace in Gaza'.
However, Israeli officials repeatedly described plans to return to the fighting and remove all Palestinians from Gaza after the captives are released.
In fact, Israeli Minister of Defence Israel Katz has said that the country would use the truce to move hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to an internment camp in southern Gaza, in preparation for their removal from the territory altogether.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said during a visit to Washington, DC, earlier this month that Israel 'still has to finish the job in Gaza' despite the ceasefire talks.
In February, Trump called for depopulating Gaza and turning the territory into a 'Riviera of the Middle East' — a proposal that legal experts say would amount to ethnic cleansing, a crime against humanity.Israel has systematically flattened large parts of Gaza, using bombardment, explosives and bulldozers in what advocates say is an effort to make the territory unliveable.
Netanyahu has argued, however, that the departure of Palestinians would be 'voluntary'.
But human rights experts warned that people do not actually have a choice when they are under the threat of bombardment and starvation.
On Thursday, Trump suggested that Gaza is set to experience more violence, saying Israel is 'going to have to fight'.
'They're going to have to clean it up. You're going to have to get rid of it,' he said.
Trump dismisses French recognition of Palestine
The US president's comments come as deadly hunger continues to spread in Gaza due to an Israeli blockade impeding the flow of aid and other essential supplies into the territory.
The Israeli-imposed starvation in Gaza has garnered international condemnation, even from close allies of the US and Israel.
On Thursday, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney slammed the denial of humanitarian aid to Gaza as a 'violation of international law'.
French President Emmanuel Macron also said his country will recognise Palestine as a state at the United Nations General Assembly in September.
Before leaving for the United Kingdom on Friday, Trump dismissed his French counterpart's statement, saying it 'doesn't carry any weight'.
'Here's the good news: What he says doesn't matter,' Trump said. 'It's not going to change anything.'
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