US President Donald Trump referred to himself and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as war heroes in a Tuesday interview with The Mark Levin Show.
“He’s a war hero because we work together. He’s a war hero. I guess I am too. I sent those planes.”
He added that Netanyahu is "a good man," and that “he's in there fighting," in the Israel-Hamas War.
Trump has never served in the US military. Netanyahu served in the IDF's Sayeret Matkal unit. Notably, he took part in the mission to rescue hostages from the hijacked Sabena airplane.
IDF preps to occupy Gaza City
Trump's comments come as Israel prepares to occupy Gaza City amid mass protests calling for restraint to save the hostages’ lives.
“Operational planning is continuing as usual,” a senior Israeli official told The Jerusalem Post. “We are determined to implement the cabinet’s decision to capture Gaza City unless a framework is presented that includes the release of all hostages and an end to the war under the terms outlined by the prime minister.”
Hamas told Egyptian and Qatari mediators on Monday that it had agreed to the latest Gaza hostage-ceasefire proposal, a source familiar with the details told the Post.
The IDF stated that the Gaza City operation would comprise at least 80,000 soldiers, who would encircle and conquer the city to destroy Hamas’s core terror infrastructure and the primary government symbols still under its control, the Post previously reported.
Trump stated that Israel would "only see the return of the remaining hostages when Hamas is confronted and destroyed!!!"
"The sooner this takes place, the better the chances of success will be," he added.
Amichai Stein contributed to this report.