US President Donald Trump “fully supports” Israel’s deadly resumption of air and ground operations in Gaza, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Thursday, March 20, blaming Hamas for the violence. “He fully supports Israel and the [Israeli army] and the actions that they’ve taken in recent days,” Leavitt told reporters when asked if Trump was trying to get a Gaza ceasefire back on track.
Leavitt added: “The president made it very clear to Hamas that if they did not release all of the hostages there would be all hell to pay, and unfortunately, Hamas chose to play games in the media with lives.” She also said the situation was “completely the fault of Hamas” for their October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, adding that Trump wants “all of those hostages” seized by Palestinian militants to be released.
Israel resumed its air campaign early with a wave of deadly strikes on Tuesday, shattering a relative calm that had prevailed in the war-ravaged Palestinian territory since a ceasefire took hold on January 19. Gaza’s civil defense agency said 504 people had been killed so far in the Israeli assault, including more than 190 children. Its previous death toll was at least 470.
Hamas said it fired rockets at Israel’s city of Tel Aviv on Thursday, in its first military response to the growing civilian death toll.
Moreover, Israel said it had closed off the territory’s main north-south route as troops expanded the ground operations they resumed on Wednesday.
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