President Donald Trump issued a blunt warning to Hamas, demanding the immediate release of hostages and acknowledging he is breaking from British Prime Minister Keir Starmer "on that score" regarding Gaza.
"I have a disagreement with the prime minister on that score," Trump told reporters at Thursday's joint news conference. "OK? One of our few disagreements, actually."
Starmer urged an end to the fighting in Gaza, saying the crisis must not be allowed to spiral further, Trump issued a direct warning to the remnants of Hamas terrorist leadership in Gaza and around the world.
"I want the hostages released now," Trump said. "Right now. Not one, two, 'We'll give you three more tomorrow.'"
"We have to remember Oct. 7, one of the worst, most violent days in the history of the world — not just theirs, but the history of the world," Trump continued. "And I got to see the tapes, and I wish I didn't see them, actually, but I got to see them, and I want an end."
"I want the hostages released. And I think it's going to be OK. But it has been a brutal period of time … this has been going on for a long time. This is not something that's over the last year or two years. This has been for decades and decades. But we want it to end."
"We have to have the hostages back immediately. That's what the people of Israel want. They want them back. And we want the fighting to stop, and it's going to stop."
Trump repeated his pointed warning to stop using hostages as human shields and "bait" to cling to their power in Gaza and their ongoing war with Israel.
"Hamas said that they're going to put the hostages up as bait," Trump said. "They're going to put the hostages in front of any attack. And that's pretty brutal. We haven't heard that one in a long time. So we have to remember that."
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
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