Trump: Sinwar ‘wasn’t a good person,’ his death makes peace in Gaza ‘easier’
In Michigan to court Arab American voters, GOP nominee says he’s ‘glad that Bibi decided to do what he had to do,’ adds they’ll likely speak soon
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said on Friday that the death of Yahya Sinwar, the leader of Palestinian Islamist terror group, would make the prospect of peace easier in Gaza.
“I think it makes it easier,” the former US president told reporters as he arrived in Detroit for campaign events. “I’m glad that Bibi (Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu) decided to do what he had to do.”
Sinwar, 62, the architect of the deadly October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, was killed in an Israeli operation in the southern Gaza Strip on Wednesday. During the onslaught last year, Palestinian terrorists killed some 1,200 people and took 251 hostages, triggering the ongoing war in Gaza.
Trump also said he plans to talk to Netanyahu soon. He praised the Israeli leader as doing a good job while attacking President Joe Biden’s administration.
“He’s called me. I haven’t spoken to him. I’m going to speak to him probably now,” Trump said of Netanyahu. “Biden is trying to hold him back… and he probably should be doing the opposite actually.”
Biden and Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris, who Trump faces in a tight race for the November 5 US election, have maintained strong support for Israel in its wars in Gaza and Lebanon. Still, Washington earlier this week sent a letter to Israel demanding that it improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza or face potential restrictions on US military aid.
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In his initial response when asked about Sinwar’s death, Trump said the Hamas chief “was not a good person.”
“That’s my reaction. That’s sometimes what happens,” he said at the airport in Detroit, where he was campaigning in an effort to court Michigan’s Arab American voters.
