‘Gaza A Nasty Place’: Trump Eyes ‘Freedom Zone’ In War-Hit Strip, Rules Out Frustration With Netanyahu

<p>Washington, May 17 (IANS) US President Donald Trump has said that he is not frustrated with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as the war against Hamas in Gaza persists.</p>
<p>”No, look, he’s got a tough situation. You have to remember, there was October 7 that everyone forgets. It was one of the most violent days in the history of the world, not the Middle East, the world, when you look at the tapes,” Trump told Fox News’ Bret Baier in an interview from Abu Dhabi.</p>
<p>”That problem should have never happened.”</p>
<p>Trump did not stop in Israel during his first official foreign trip to the Middle East, where he travelled to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.</p>
<p>Baier asked Trump if he thinks Netanyahu believes a potential nuclear deal with Iran is bad for the region, as the administration engages in negotiations.</p>
<p>”Bibi, he’s an angry man, and he should be because of October 7, and he’s been hurt badly by that, but in another way, he’s been sort of helped because I think he’s fought hard and bravely,” Trump responded.</p>
<p>Trump, who has repeatedly said that Gaza should be taken over by the US and developed, reiterated that the region should become a “freedom zone”.</p>
<p>”Gaza is a nasty place. It’s been that way for years. I think it should become a free zone, you know, freedom, I call it a freedom zone,” the US President said.</p>
<p>”They have Hamas. Everybody is being killed all over the place. I mean, you ever see, you talk about crime stats? It’s a nasty place.”</p>
<p>President Trump signalled on Friday that he wants the US to help take care of the situation in Gaza after a further wave of intense Israeli airstrikes overnight, saying “a lot of people are starving” and that he expected “a lot of good things” in the next month.</p>
<p>”I think a lot of good things are going to happen over the next month, and we’re going to see, we have to help also out the Palestinians,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on Friday as he returned to the US after his Middle East trip.</p>
<p>When asked by a reporter whether he supported Israeli plans to expand the war in Gaza, the President responded: “You know, a lot of people are starving on Gaza, so we have to look at both sides.”</p>
<p>”But we’ll, we’re going to do a good job,” he added.</p>
<p>Earlier on Friday, speaking in the United Arab Emirates on the last leg of his visit to three Gulf nations, Trump said: “We’re looking at Gaza, and we got to get that taken care of. A lot of people are starving. A lot of people. There’s a lot of bad things going on.”</p>
<p>The Israeli military intensified operations across Gaza on Thursday, killing more than 100 people and pledging to continue bombings as Trump suggested establishing a “freedom zone” in the enclave.</p>
<p>Many of the casualties were in Jabalya in northern Gaza and in Khan Younis in the south, according to Gaza Civil Defence.</p>
<p>On Thursday, the US President reiterated his desire to take over the Gaza Strip, telling a business roundtable in Qatar that the US would “make it a freedom zone”.</p>
<p>Asked if the three countries he visited in the Middle East would be part of the solution, Trump said: “I spoke to all three of them, they would absolutely be. I mean, they’re really rich and really, really, really, even more than rich, they’re good people, and they would help. And so, money is not even the problem. You got to get countries to say, yes, take them.”</p>
<p><em>(This report has been published as part of the auto-generated syndicate wire feed. Apart from the headline, no editing has been done in the copy by ABP Live.)</em></p>
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