Trump on Hamas: ‘They want to die’

President Donald Trump said Friday Hamas “didn’t want to make a deal” and “they want to die,” claiming the group wants to retain the hostages to keep its negotiating leverage.

The comments came one day after the United States pulled out of ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas and as American allies put increasing pressure on Israel to let up on a campaign in Gaza that is causing widespread starvation.

“It was too bad, Hamas didn’t really want to make a deal. I think they want to die and it’s very, very bad,” Trump told reporters outside the White House. He added: “It got to a point where you’re going to have to finish the job,” an apparent reference to Israel continuing its military offensive against the group.

“We’re down to the final hostages, and basically because of that they really didn’t want to make a deal,” Trump said.

Special envoy Steve Witkoff said Thursday that the U.S. had pulled out of talks with Hamas because the U.S.-designated terrorist group — which had just submitted its latest response to a ceasefire proposal — was not negotiating in “good faith.”

As those talks deteriorated, pressure mounted this week against Israel by some of America’s closest allies. French President Emmanuel Macron said Thursday that France would become the first G7 country to recognize a Palestinian state. And Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Thursday, “The situation in Gaza has gone beyond the world’s worst fears.”

Earlier this week, a U.N. World Food Programme official said about a quarter of the population in Gaza is facing famine-like conditions, and nearly 100,000 women and children are experiencing severe, acute malnutrition. Last month, a U.N.-partnered report found that 96 percent of the Gazan population is facing crisis levels of acute food insecurity and that there was a “high risk” of famine across the Gaza strip.

Asked Friday about Macron’s announcement, Trump called the French president “a very good guy,” but added that “what he says doesn’t matter” and that his “statement doesn’t carry any weight.”

Asked if he had spoken to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about allowing foreign aid drops into Gaza, Trump said he had called Netanyahu but declined to share details, other than calling it “sort of disappointing.”

Israel has reportedly said that it will allow a new round of foreign aid drops in Gaza in the coming days.

A U.S. official familiar with conversations among senior officials said there is growing Trump administration concern about the crisis and that officials are trying to figure out the best way to respond. The person was granted anonymity to discuss sensitive internal deliberations.

The administration is upset with the Israelis but also believes other actors are not without blame, including the United Nations, the official said, arguing that the U.N. appears to want to win a public relations war.

“But Israel can’t be indifferent to the situation,” they added. “We need to get in aid, and we don’t want this situation to get worse.”

Nahal Toosi contributed to this report.