President Trump Says Hamas Don't Want To Release Hostages, Claims To Know Where They Are

JAKARTA - United States President Donald Trump accused militant group Hamas of not wanting to release hostages, claiming the year they were.

Speaking at his golf resort in Scotland with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and his wife Victoria, President Trump said the Hamas group did not want a ceasefire agreement, as a result Israel had to fight differently in Gaza.

"They have completely changed now," he said of Hamas, as reported by The Times of Israel July 28.

"They don't want to release the hostages," he said.

"I've always said when you reach the last 20 hostages you won't release them, because it's like their shield," he said of Hamas' last 20 surviving hostages.

"Very unfair. So, something must be done," he said.

President Trump said Hamas "Really didn't want to negotiate" in Doha.

"Now maybe his struggle should be a little different," he said, adding he told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, "You may now have to do it in a different way."

At the same time, he said, a ceasefire in Gaza was still possible.

"Hamas did a terrible thing, and they paid a heavy price," said President Trump.

After a meeting with PM Starmer, President Trump said the US and Israel knew the location of several Israeli hostages in Gaza.

"We know where they are holding them in some cases," President Trump claims.

"You don't want to act arbitrarily in that region because that means the hostages will be killed," he said.

President Trump added that he and PM Netanyahu were communicating to formulate "various plans" to release the hostages who were trapped in Gaza.

"Hamas has become very difficult to deal with in recent days because they don't want to give up these last 20 hostages, because they think as long as they still have them, they will be protected," he said, repeating comments made earlier.

"But I don't think it will work," he added, saying the hostages were in "big trouble".