US President Donald Trump said Friday he is “really” fine with any decision Israel makes as to whether to continue to a second stage of the Gaza hostage deal or return to war in Gaza.
Asked about Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s position in an interview with Fox News, Trump said, “He’s actually not torn. I mean, you know where he stands, and he would like to go in, and he’s just so angry, and he should be. If he’s not angry, then there’d be something wrong with him, frankly.
“He is very angry; he’s a very angry man at what happened, especially what happened yesterday with these kids,” he said, referring to the return of murdered hostage children Ariel and Kfir Bibas. “It’s so barbaric. You wouldn’t think that would happen in the modern age, but it happened.”
Asked on whether Israel would decide between seeking to bring back more hostages in a second phase or resuming the war, and whether he is fine with either choice, Trump answered, “I am. I really am. You know, when you see what’s happening there… you just wonder about the condition of the hostages that they have. One group came in so bad, it looked like it was a concentration camp in Germany.”
He added: “Sometimes you have to make a decision… it’s a rough decision.”
Sixty-seven of the 251 hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza, including the bodies of at least 35 confirmed dead by the IDF.
Hamas has so far released 24 hostages — 14 Israeli civilians, five soldiers, and five Thai nationals — and the bodies of three Israeli captives during a ceasefire that began in January. The terror group freed 105 civilians during a weeklong truce in late November 2023, and four hostages were released before that.
Eight hostages have been rescued alive by troops, and the bodies of 40 hostages have also been recovered, including three mistakenly killed by the Israeli military as they tried to escape their captors.
Hamas is also holding two Israeli civilians who entered the Strip in 2014 and 2015, as well as the body of an IDF soldier who was killed in 2014. The body of another IDF soldier, also killed in 2014, was recovered from Gaza in January. Hamas is expected to release on Saturday the two Israeli civilians who entered Gaza a decade ago.
Trump was also asked about his post-war plan for the Gaza Strip, which calls for the US to take ownership of the enclave and for the local population to be relocated to Egypt and Jordan, who have rejected the proposal outright.
“Well, we play Jordan and Egypt billions of dollars a year and I was a little surprised they said that, but they did. And I’ll tell you, the way to do it is my plan. I think that’s the plan that really works,” Trump said.
“I’m not forcing it. I’m just gonna sit back and recommend it, and then the US would own the site and, you know, no Hamas, and they’d be developed and then you’d start all over again with a clean plate.”
“I like my plan I thought my plan was good. You get them out, you move them, you build a beautiful community and a permanent community and then you take the site,” Trump said.
“You know it’s a great location. I don’t know why Israel ever gave that up,” Trump said, referring to Israel’s 2005 disengagement from Gaza. “I guess they look at us and say ‘Why did you give up the Panama Canal?’
“I’ve seen a lot of bad real estate deals, that’s one of them right there.”
Arab leaders have been shuffling to construct a counterproposal to Trump’s Gaza plan. According to reports, the Arab plan would see Hamas retreat from Gaza’s political scene.
Hamas has controlled Gaza since 2007, following a civil war that saw the terror group oust the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority, which is dominated by Hamas’s secularist rival Fatah.
Israel has ruled out accepting any plan that involves the Palestinian Authority playing a role in the management of the Gaza Strip.