President Donald Trump once again assailed Hamas for using civilian and religious facilities to hide its "terror infrastructure" and called on Palestinian leadership to "fully condemn and prohibit terrorism."
Trump made the comments Monday at the White House while laying out the details of his sweeping 20-point proposal to end the war in Gaza between Israel and Iranian-backed Hamas terrorists.
"Instead of building a better life for the Palestinians, Hamas diverted resources to build over 400 miles of tunnels and terror infrastructure, rocket production facilities, and hid their military command posts and launch sites in hospitals, schools, and mosques," Trump said. "So if you went after them … you wouldn't even realize you ended up knocking out a hospital or school or a mosque."
He added, "That's a terrible thing. Terrible, terrible way to have to fight. No fight is good, but that's a real bad one."
Trump has on multiple occasions this month called out Hamas for using the remaining Israeli hostages as "bait," calling it a "human atrocity" and demanding that the terrorists release the hostages.
Trump also demanded Monday that the Palestinian Authority condemn Hamas and embrace the reforms he proposed.
"I challenge the Palestinians to take responsibility for their destiny, because that's what we're giving them. We're giving them responsibility for their destiny. Fully condemn and prohibit terrorism and earn their way to a brighter future. They don't want the life that they've had. They've had a rough life with Hamas," Trump said.
"If the Palestinian Authority does not complete the reforms that I laid out in my vision for peace in 2020, they'll have only themselves to blame. We're giving them an amazing footprint, and they have amazing support from the leaders of the Arab world and the Muslim world," he added.
Mark Swanson ✉
Mark Swanson, a Newsmax writer and editor, has nearly three decades of experience covering news, culture and politics.
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