Former US President Donald Trump stated that Israel needs to put an immediate end to the fighting because it is “losing the PR war” in Gaza due to the photos pouring out of the territory.
“Every night, they’re releasing tapes of a building falling down. They shouldn’t be releasing tapes like that,” Trump said in an interview broadcast on The Hugh Hewitt Show on Thursday.
“They’re doing, that’s why they’re losing the PR war. They, Israel is absolutely losing the PR war,” he said.
According to an AFP count based on official Israeli data, 1,170 Israelis and foreigners, mostly civilians, lost their lives in Hamas’s strike on Israel on October 7, sparking the worst Gaza conflict to date.
Additionally, about 250 captives were taken by Palestinian terrorists; about 130 of them are still in Gaza, 34 of whom the military claims are dead.
The health ministry in Gaza, which is controlled by Hamas, reports that Israel’s retaliatory attack has killed at least 33,037 people. The UN has issued a warning about “catastrophic hunger.”
“You’ve got to get it over with, and you have to get back to normalcy,” Trump said. “You have to have a victory, and it’s taking a long time.”
“Get it over with. They’ve got to finish what they finish. They have to get it done,” the Republican presidential candidate said.
A growing number of countries have expressed concern to Israel about the consequences of its six-month war with Hamas, and Washington, Israel’s principal ally, has responded with escalating criticism.
Unrelenting Israeli shelling has left the majority of Gaza in ruins, brought down the medical infrastructure, and put the 2.4 million people living in the Palestinian enclave in dire need of aid.
Trump’s remarks coincided with US President Joe Biden’s warning to Israel about a drastic change of course regarding the Gaza War. Biden’s warning came amid increased political pressure in an election year for the US and growing irritation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
