Trump Declares U.S. Strike on Iran’s Nuclear Facilities Turbocharged Israel-Hamas Truce

President Donald Trump said the U.S. strike on key Iranian nuclear facilities earlier this year spooked Hamas and accelerated the release of Israeli hostages.

The president shared his assessment during an interview with Fox News reporter Trey Yingst on Outnumbered on Monday.

Yingst asked Trump, “When did you know Hamas was going to release the hostages?”

“Well, I tell ya, I think it really started when we took out the nuclear capability of Iran,” replied Trump. “When you look at what they had, you couldn’t have made this deal if somebody is sitting over there with a nuclear weapon over your head.”

He continued: “There were other obviously very war-like things that we did over the course of 4-5 years, you know, setting the table. But when we took away that destructive ability from Iran [I knew the hostages would be released].”

The president was referring to “Operation Midnight Hammer” in June, when seven stealth bombers flew from Missouri to Iran and bombed three nuclear facilities.

Trump did his interview with Yingst in Israel, where he arrived early on Monday for the release of 20 living hostages that were held by Hamas.

Their release comes a little more than two years after Hamas terrorists broke into Israel and slaughtered 1,200 people, before taking hundreds of hostages back to Gaza.

The president told Yingst that the ceasefire deal now presents a “great opportunity” to revamp Gaza.

“Even before the war, it was — it was a hellhole, let’s face it,” Trump said. “Before this, before the bombing and everything else.”

He added that when he sees pictures and video of Gazans, he sees “good people,” and that he hopes they can remain there as it is rebuilt.

On a lighter note, Trump heaped praise on Yingst for his coverage of the Israel-Hamas War during an earlier segment, hailing him as a “real professional.” 

Trump also said, both on his way to Israel aboard Air Force One on Sunday and again on Monday, that he believed the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas would hold and that peace would sweep the Middle East.

“I think it’s going to hold,” Trump said on Sunday. “I think people are — a lot of reasons why it’s going to hold – but I think people are tired of it. It’s been centuries [of fighting], okay, not just recent. It’s been centuries. I think people are tired of it.”

You can watch his interview with Yingst above, via Fox News.