Hamas cries bias after Trump labels it a terror group

A senior official with the Hamas terror group accused US President Donald Trump of taking a pro-Israel line, after he labeled the organization a terror group during a speech Sunday.

Trump’s address was the centerpiece of his two-day visit to Saudi Arabia, his first stop overseas as president. During a meeting of more than 50 Arab and Muslim leaders, he sought to chart a new course for America’s role in the region, one aimed squarely on rooting out terrorism, with less focus on promoting human rights and democratic reforms.

In his speech, Trump urged “defeating terrorism and the ideology that drives it.”

“The true toll of ISIS, Al Qaeda, Hezbollah, Hamas, and so many others, must be counted not only in the number of dead,” Trump told the audience. “It must also be counted in generations of vanished dreams.”

Hamas official Mushir al-Masri told the Palestinian Shihab news agency that Trump’s inclusion of the group on the list showed he was not a fair broker.

“The depiction of Hamas as a terror organization by Trump makes clear the American bias on behalf of the occupation, and is aligned with the enemy’s policies,” he said.

The US, Israel and much of the West recognize Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip and avowedly seeks the elimination of Israel, as a terror group.

The organization has killed hundreds of Israelis in suicide bombings and other attacks.

Trump urged Muslim countries to ensure that “terrorists find no sanctuary on their soil” and announced an agreement with Gulf countries to fight financing for extremists.

Even as the American president pledged to work alongside Middle Eastern nations, he put the onus for combating terrorism on the region. Bellowing into the microphone, he implored Muslim leaders to aggressively fight extremists: “Drive them out of your places of worship. Drive them out of your communities.”

Trump said Middle Eastern countries must “honestly confront the crisis of Islamist extremism and the Islamist terror groups it inspires. [And stand] together against the murder of innocent Muslims, the oppression of women, the persecution of Jews, and the slaughter of Christians.”

Trump made almost no mention of Israel, his next stop on the tour Monday, leaving it off a list of countries fighting terror. But he briefly referred to his upcoming meetings with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

“If three Abrahamic faiths can join together, then peace in this world is possible, including peace between Israelis and Palestinians,” he said.