President Trump stopped short of directly endorsing Israel's plans to attack and occupy Gaza City in a brief phone interview with Axios on Monday, but said he didn't believe Hamas would release the hostages unless the situation changed.

US President Trump stated that Hamas is unlikely to release hostages without altered circumstances, stopping short of fully endorsing Israel's Gaza City plan. He stressed the difficulty of securing the hostages,

Trump underscored the importance of securing the release of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, saying they had suddenly "hardened" up on the issue.