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President Donald Trump told Fox News in an exclusive interview Monday that he credits the U.S. strikes on key Iranian nuclear sites for making the Israel-Hamas peace deal possible.
Trump made the comments to Fox News’ Trey Yingst in Israel after Hamas freed the remaining 20 living Israeli hostages from captivity in Gaza.
“I think it really started when we took out the nuclear capability of Iran,” Trump said, referring to the June strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites. “When you look at what they had, you couldn’t have made this deal with someone sitting over there with a nuclear weapon over your head.”
Yingst said Trump emphasized that the Gaza deal is only the beginning of what he hopes will become a wider movement toward peace across the Middle East.
TRUMP WRITES MESSAGE TO ISRAELIS AFTER ALL LIVING HOSTAGES RELEASED BY HAMAS
Trump arrived in Israel Monday morning to coincide with the prisoner exchange between Israel and Hamas.
TRUMP HERALDS ‘GOLDEN AGE OF THE MIDDLE EAST’ IN ADDRESS TO ISRAELI KNESSET HOURS AFTER HOSTAGES COME HOME
The 20 living Israeli hostages were released as part of an agreement intended to end the conflict that began with the deadly Oct. 7, 2023, attack by Hamas terrorists. Hamas terrorists killed more than 1,200 people and took around 240 hostages in southern Israel during the attack. Two years of fighting in Gaza followed, which resulted in tens of thousands estimated dead.
In exchange for the remaining living hostages, Israel began releasing around 2,000 Palestinian detainees, including approximately 250 identified as terrorists.
This is a breaking news story; check back for updates.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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