Trump Talks to Saudi State TV About The Hostages Being Held By Hamas: ‘Many of Them Are Dead’

Al Arabiya’s Washington Bureau Chief Nadia Bilbassy-Charters sat down with former President Donald Trump and discussed some of the latest developments in the Middle East. During the interview, which was published early this week, Trump says he believes that most of the remaining Israeli hostages being held by Hamas are dead.

“Israel is under great danger. They’re under much less danger right now than they were one month ago. Let’s face it. I mean, you saw the attack on October 7th. That was horrible. I’ve seen tapes that other people haven’t seen. And what happened there was horrible. That can’t be allowed to happen,” Trump said during the discussion, adding:

But if you think that would have never happened, so the whole thing wouldn’t have happened. That was the problem. And now still you have hostages. But many of them have been killed and I’m sure many of them are dead. It’s a very sad thing what’s going to happen when they find out that there are very few hostages, which is probably what they’re going to find out.

“You actually told Hamas, you said that you threatened them. You said you have to release these hostages before I reach the White House. So you’re saying what can be done?” followed up Bilbassy-Charters.

“Well, I would have said they have to release them immediately. I think if I said it, they would have done it. I think the hostages would have been back home. But I think even early on, I think a lot of those hostages were dead. I think they were dead. I mean, it’s a very sad thing,” Trump replied, adding:

It’s not even believable when you think about it. But I think pretty early on, there were a lot that were gone. And, you know, just God rest their souls to live that way and, you know, spend– and these were largely young people that were having a good time at a festival. Life was a bowl of cherries. Right. And they’re dead. It’s a very sad thing. But, you know, it’s interesting. I don’t know what’s going to happen when they find out there are fewer than they thought. And it could be by a staggering number.

Bilbassy-Charters asked next, “What about the destruction and the deaths of civilians? You think that’s a tolerable price that Israel is doing in Gaza and in Lebanon now?”

“The destruction is terrible. The whole whole thing is terrible. Again, it should have never happened. If October 7th wouldn’t happen, which you wouldn’t have because Iran funds it. And Iran had no money. They had no money. They had absolutely no money. And I would have made a deal with them and they wouldn’t have done October 7th. But because they have no respect for Biden, they did it. And then it began. You know, that was like just a terrible thing. But it began because of that, because of October 7th. You certainly can’t blame Israel for hitting back. And they hit back hard, much harder than anybody would have thought. And then they send the missiles in and they were all knocked down,” Trump replied.

As of late September, Hamas is believed to still hold 97 hostages from its brutal attack on southern Israel – including 7 Americans. “As of Monday, at least 97 people taken hostage on Oct. 7 are believed to still be in Gaza, with around a third of them, or at least 33 people, believed to be dead, according to Israeli officials,” reported NBC News at the time. Hamas took hostage 9-month-old Kfir Bibas along with his 4-year-old brother and his mother, who all still remain in captivity.

Watch the clip above.