The Hamas-led invasion and massacre in Israel’s south on Oct. 7, 2023, “was genocide at the highest level,” U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Friday, after he was asked about the recent U.N. report claiming Israel was committing genocide in Gaza.
“I haven’t seen [the report],” Trump stated, “but did anybody commit genocide on Oct. 7? What do you think about that? That was murder, genocide, you can call it whatever you want … but little babies were chopped in half, arms were cut off people, heads were cut off people—that’s genocide.”
BREAKING: President Trump claps back at a reporter after they insinuated Israel was committing a genocide.
— Eyal Yakoby (@EYakoby) September 19, 2025
“What happened on October 7th was genocide at the highest level. Little babies chopped in half. Head-cut-off people. That’s genocide.”
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Trump was also asked about the hostages in captivity in Gaza and whether a ceasefire was not the best solution to bring them back.
The president somewhat disagreed, saying that the hostages might be freed through military force as well. “A lot of strange things happen [in war]. A lot of results take place that you would never think were going to happen,” he noted.
“Look, young people don’t die, okay? They just don’t die. They can take a lot. But these people died in these horrible tunnels. They’re mostly in the tunnels … I always said, the last 20, when you get down to the last 10 or 20, it’s going to be very tough. It’s a nasty situation. You can’t forget Oct. 7, but it’s a nasty situation. Terrible,” he added.
Also on Friday, former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo slammed the U.N. commission—whose three members have all come under fire for documented antisemitic statements—that formulated the report.
“The claim that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza isn’t just factually wrong—it’s a modern-day blood libel,” he wrote. Pompeo further thanked U.S. Senator Ted Cruz for “speaking out” against the allegations of the report.
“This latest announcement by the United Nations is no different than any of the other antisemitic smears and libels that have been leveled against Israel in their ongoing response to Hamas’s atrocities on Oct. 7,” Cruz said in a statement delivered to Fox News.
The senator went on to say that the U.N. campaign undermines American national security interests by “eroding Israel’s freedom of action against Hamas” and “fueling international lawfare against Israel, which will be turned against American servicemembers, and indeed American citizens in general.”
He warned that the Trump administration and Congress can impose sanctions “against everyone involved in this travesty,” according to Fox News.
