U.S. President Donald Trump threatened Hamas on Thursday over the terrorist group’s ongoing executions of civilians in Gaza.
“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.
Hamas has claimed that the public executions are directed at violent gangs or individuals who collaborated with Israel. Citing a “Palestinian security source,” Reuters reported on Monday that the group had killed 32 people.
Trump told reporters on Tuesday that he didn’t mind the executions.
“They did take out a couple of gangs that were very bad, very, very bad gangs that they did take them out, and they killed a number of gang members, and that didn’t bother me much, to be honest with you,” Trump said. “That’s OK.”
On Wednesday, the head of U.S. Central Command, Adm. Brad Cooper, condemned the shootings.
“We strongly urge Hamas to immediately suspend violence and shooting at innocent Palestinian civilians in Gaza—in both Hamas-held parts of Gaza and those secured by the IDF behind the Yellow Line,” Cooper stated. “We have conveyed our concerns to the mediators who agreed to work with us to enforce the peace and protect innocent Gaza civilians.”
