Former U.S. President Donald Trump has stirred
controversy with remarks downplaying reports of public executions in Gaza,
saying the shootings by Hamas “didn’t bother me much” and referring to
the victims as “gang members.”
In a post on his Truth Social platform on
Thursday, Trump warned that if Hamas “continues to kill people in Gaza,” there
would be “no choice but to go in and kill them,” though he did not clarify who
he meant by “we.”
“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,” Trump wrote.
Despite the strong language, Trump said that U.S.
troops would not be involved militarily in Gaza.
“We won’t need the U.S. military,” he said on
Wednesday.
His comments come amid reports that Hamas has
tightened its control over several devastated cities in Gaza following a U.S.-backed
20-point ceasefire deal, launching a wave of arrests and executing alleged
collaborators.
Earlier, the top U.S. commander in the Middle East, Admiral
Brad Cooper, had demanded that Hamas halt the shootings and comply with the
truce terms.
But Trump, during a cabinet meeting at the White House
on Tuesday, appeared unconcerned.
“That didn’t bother me much, to be honest with you,”
he said. “That’s OK. It’s a couple of very bad gangs. It’s very different than
other countries.”
Trump, who visited Israel and Egypt on Monday
to mark the ceasefire’s implementation, said Hamas had shown willingness to
“stop the problems” in Gaza.
“They have been open about it. And we gave them an
approval for a period of time,” he told reporters aboard Air Force One.
The remarks have drawn mixed reactions, with critics
accusing Trump of downplaying human rights abuses, while his supporters
argue he is focused on maintaining the ceasefire deal and restoring
order in Gaza.
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