Gaza Militias Ask for International Help To Fight Hamas, Trump Says Answer Might Be To ‘Go in and Kill Them’ By The Media Line Staff US President Donald Trump warned that if Hamas continues killing civilians in Gaza, “we will have no choice but to go in and kill them,” after Gaza-based militia leaders appealed to the […]
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The Media Line: Gaza Militias Ask for International Help To Fight Hamas, Trump Says Answer Might Be To ‘Go in and Kill Them’
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Gaza Militias Ask for International Help To Fight Hamas, Trump Says Answer Might Be To ‘Go in and Kill Them’
By The Media Line Staff
US President Donald Trump warned that if Hamas continues killing civilians in Gaza, “we will have no choice but to go in and kill them,” after Gaza-based militia leaders appealed to the international community to intervene against Hamas’s wave of executions.
Trump’s statement, posted on Truth Social, marked a stark shift from his earlier suggestion that Hamas was targeting criminal gangs rather than civilians. His warning came amid reports that the terror group has executed dozens of Gazans it accused of collaborating with Israel or opposing its rule.
The president’s reversal capped 48 hours of mixed messages. On Tuesday, he said he had given Hamas “approval for a period of time” to eliminate “very bad gangs,” but by Wednesday, after learning of widespread civilian killings, he told CNN he was “doing more research on it… It could be gangs plus.” The commander of US forces in the Middle East also called on Hamas to halt attacks on “innocent Palestinian civilians.”
Although President Trump spoke in collective “we” terms when threatening military retaliation, he has clarified in past statements that Israel—not the United States—would take such action should Hamas violate the ceasefire.
In southern Gaza, Hossam al-Astal, a militia leader working with Israeli backing in Khan Yunis, released a video accusing Hamas of “terror against the people of Gaza.” He thanked President Trump for his role in achieving the ceasefire but urged him to “save Gazans from Hamas after saving them from Israeli bombardment.”
“Hamas is killing hundreds of children, women, youths and elderly people. Under what charge? We came out of a military war into a war of terrorists,” al-Astal said. Calling Hamas “100% ISIS,” he demanded international protection for Gaza’s residents.
Speaking later to The Times of Israel, al-Astal said his group would continue fighting Hamas but denied seeking power. “We are not trying to rule Gaza,” he said. “We want to move the people from Hamas’s rule to civilian rule that will serve the residents. We want peace and we want to live.”