US President Donald Trump warns, “If Hamas continues to kill people in Gaza, which was not the deal, we will have no choice but to go in and kill them.”
The Truth Social message caps off a 48-hour reversal of Trump’s position on Hamas’s summary execution of several dozen Palestinians from rival gangs and Gazans it has accused of collaborating with Israel.
Trump claimed on Tuesday that he had given Hamas “approval for a period of time” to carry out the killings, asserting that Hamas was targeting some “very bad gangs.” By Wednesday, though, the commander of US forces in the Middle East called on Hamas to immediately stop attacks on “innocent Palestinian civilians.”
Hours later, Trump told CNN he was doing “more research on it… It could be gangs plus.”
While Trump spoke in “we” terms when talking about who would carry out his threat against Hamas, he has in the past clarified that he is referring to Israel regarding such retribution and that US troops will not be needed in Gaza.
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