President Donald Trump spoke to the press on Tuesday, revealing new details about the hostages still being held by Hamas in Gaza, stating that 21 of the 59 hostages are currently believed to be alive.
“They told me a few days ago that there are only 21 hostages alive in Gaza,” he said.
During the conversation, Trump also mentioned that he does not intend to visit Israel during his upcoming trip to the Middle East next week. However, he added that a visit to Israel remains a possibility in the future.
According to a recent announcement from the White House, Trump will be traveling to Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates beginning May 13.
Although Israel is not officially on the schedule, Axios reported on Saturday that Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth will visit Israel on May 12, before flying to Saudi Arabia to meet up with Trump.
When asked about discussions with Israeli leadership, Trump said, “We are talking to Netanyahu about a lot of things right now,” and then shifted to the subject of Iran’s nuclear ambitions, declaring that it is “crunch time for Iran.”
“I hope Iran does what is right,” Trump stated, before emphasizing, “Iran will not have a nuclear weapon.”
Trump also addressed the situation involving the Houthis, referencing his prior declaration that they had agreed to halt their strikes on American ships.
“We just told the military to stop attacks against the Houthis. The Houthis have decided they don’t want to do this anymore. If something happens between Israel and the Houthis, I’ll discuss that,” he said.
{Matzav.com}