Donald Trump weighs in on israel's war on Hamas, vows to ban Gaza refugees from entering US
Oct 17, 2023
Washington, DC [US], October 17 : Former US President Donald Trump on Monday said that he would expand a freeze on refugees that he enacted during his presidency to cover people from Gaza, The New York Times reported.
Addressing a rally at Clive in Iowa, Trump said, "We aren't bringing in anyone from Gaza."
In an extension of the anti-immigrant stance that he took during his 2016 presidential run, Trump offered a litany of proposals that in many ways adapted his previous policies to showcase current events.
Trump vowed again to ban people from certain parts of the world, particularly where Islam is most commonly practiced, while restricting the immigration and the overall number of refugees the United States would allow inside its territory, according to The New York Times report.
Speaking on the recent protests against Israel's retaliatory action on Hamas in Gaza and supporting civilians in the region, Trump vowed to send Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to what he termed "pro-jihadist" rallies.
Further, he proposed that immigrants should not be allowed into the United States if they adhered to a laundry list of ideologies.
"If you empathize with radical Islamic terrorists and extremists, you're disqualified," Trump said, adding, "If you want to abolish the state of Israel, you're disqualified."
He further said that so, too, would be the people who backed Hamas "or any ideology that's having to do with that" and anyone who was a "communist, Marxist or fascist".
He did not, however, how the US should enforce such a screening, The New York Times reported.
Trump said, "We have to. Or we're going to have a country that's going to be blown to shreds. Because bad things are happening. Millions and millions of people have come into our country, and nobody has any idea where they're from. Some from countries that nobody's ever heard of."
He further said that his administration would revoke visas of "radical anti-American and antisemitic foreigners" like those engaged in demonstrations backing Palestinians, according to The New York Times reported.
Trump's statement, building on his vow to reinstate a travel ban he had enacted when he was in the office, demonstrates an attempt to further retreat from comments he made at a rally in Florida last week, The New York Times reported.
He had stressed that Israeli military, which is now on the brink of invading the Gaza Strip, needed to "straighten it out" and even called Hezbollah "very smart."
Meanwhile, Israel's counter-offensive against Hamas continued for the 11th day, with the Israel Defence Forces saying that it attacked more than 200 military infrastructures of Hamas on Monday. In addition, IDF targeted several underground terrorist tunnels and a bank used by Hamas to finance terrorism in Gaza Strip.
In a post shared on X, the IDF stated, "During the last day, the IDF attacked over 200 military terrorist infrastructures of the Hamas organization and the GAP throughout the Gaza Strip. Fighter jets attacked the operational headquarters of the terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip and eliminated terrorist operatives."
"Also, a bank used by the terrorist organization Hamas to finance terrorism in the Gaza Strip and a number of underground terrorist tunnels in the territory of the Gaza Strip were attacked. In addition, in the last few days the fighters of the sea arm attacked with precision weapons a number of military targets of the terrorist organization Hamas, which include operational headquarters in the center of Gaza City and warehouses containing weapons," it added.
