Incoming U.S. National Security Advisor Mike Waltz said on Wednesday that the Trump administration will support renewed Israeli military action against Hamas in Gaza if the terrorist group violates the terms of the ceasefire.
“We’ve made it very clear to the Israelis, and I want the people of Israel to hear me on this—if they need to go back in, we’re with them. If Hamas doesn’t live up to the terms of this agreement, we are with them,” the Republican representative from Florida’s 6th District, whom President-elect Donald Trump tapped for the NSA role in November, told Fox News anchor Bret Baier.
“Hamas is not going to continue as a military entity and it certainly is not going to govern Gaza,” Waltz stressed.
Waltz said that he understands the concerns about the Palestinian terrorists released from prison as part of the agreement, but that “at the end of the day those hostages have been down there in those tunnels getting raped, abused, in horrific conditions. They have been there longer than the 1979 hostages, in much more horrific conditions,” referring to the Iran hostage crisis.
He said that 25 of the 33 hostages on the list to be released in the first stage of the deal are alive.
“I’m convinced they all would have died if President Trump hadn’t come in and said get them out,” said Waltz.
“It’s important to note that we will see hostages walking out and hugging their families as President Trump is being sworn in as the next president of the United States (on Jan. 20) and that is something we all should be celebrating.”
