US President Donald Trump says he might have responded differently to Hamas’s threat not to release a batch of hostages earlier this month than Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did.
After Hamas made the threat, citing Israeli violations of the ongoing ceasefire deal, Trump set a Saturday noon deadline for all remaining hostages to be released or there would be all hell to pay.
Mediators subsequently brokered an agreement for Hamas to release the three hostages as slated so Israel would not resume the war, which Trump appeared to be green-lighting.
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump reiterates his belief that Hamas backed down from its threat because of his Saturday ultimatum.
“The rest is really up to [Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu],” Trump says. “I may have done it differently than him… I may have taken a different stance.”
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