Trump, learning of Gaza hospital strike, says he is ‘not happy’

US President Donald Trump says he’s “not happy” about the Israeli strike on a Gaza hospital that reportedly killed 20 people, including rescue workers trying to evacuate the wounded and five journalists.

Asked for his reaction to the strike by a reporter in the Oval Office, Trump says he didn’t know about it.

Pressed to provide a response anyway, Trump says, “I’m not happy about it. I don’t want to see it.”

“At the same time, we have to end that whole nightmare,” he adds.

He then reiterates his assertion that he is the one responsible for deals securing earlier hostage releases.

He also repeats his claim that there are likely fewer than 20 hostages still alive. Israel tepidly pushed back against the claim last week, saying its intelligence still suggests that as many as 20 are alive.

“I said a long time ago, I’m going to get them out, but when we get down to that final 10 or 20, these people aren’t going to release them,” Trump says of the Hamas terror group.

On several occasions in June and July, Trump emphatically declared that a ceasefire and hostage release deal was around a week away.

Only in late July after talks hit a snag did he change track and begin claiming that he knew all along that a deal to free the remaining hostages would not be possible and that Israel should go ahead and “finish the job” against Hamas — something it has not be able to do over 22 months of fighting.