Trump Says He’s Losing Patience With Hamas As Israeli Hostages Look Like ‘Holocaust Survivors’

President Donald Trump on Saturday expressed dismay over the appearance of three Israeli hostages who emerged from Hamas captivity looking “like Holocaust survivors.”

“I watched the hostages come back today, and they looked like Holocaust survivors,” Trump said upon the release of Or Levy, Ohad Ben Ami, and Eli Sharabi.

“They were in horrible condition, they were emaciated. It looked like many years ago, the Holocaust survivors. I don’t know how much longer we can take that.”

Trump expressed concern and frustration with Hamas over the men’s condition, noting that, under the current ceasefire’s first phase, hostages are slowly being released.

“I know we have a deal where we are supposed to … keep dribbling in [hostages], but they are in really bad shape,” Trump said. “They have been treated brutally, horribly.”

“Hamas has been a disaster… I watched the hostages come back today. And they looked like Holocaust survivors, they were in horrible condition. They were emaciated… I don’t know how much longer we can take that.” –President Trump pic.twitter.com/Ku7gHaEjvk

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) February 9, 2025

Trump added that he is losing his patience, even with the mental abuse of the hostages released in the past few weeks.

“At some point, we are going to lose our patience,” Trump said. “When I see that scene that I saw today with people coming out of helicopters and airplanes that are emaciated, that look like they haven’t had a meal in a month, there’s no reason for that, and I don’t know how much longer we can take it. … When I watch people that were healthy people, a reasonably short number of years ago and you look at them today they look like they’ve aged 25 years. They literally look like the old pictures of Holocaust survivors.”

The hostages were reportedly chained, gagged, burned with hot objects, hung by their feet and starved, the Times of Israel reported.

Levy, 34, was just arriving at the Nova Music festival on October 7, 2023, when terrorists killed his wife and kidnapped him.

When Levy reunited with his three-year-old son, Almog, he had to break the news that the boy’s mother was not coming back, according to Levy’s brother.

“Almog told him, ‘Daddy, you look different today,’ and Or replied, ‘That’s true.’ Almog then asked, ‘Why didn’t Mommy Eynav come back?’ It was hard for Or; he cried. Then Almog said, ‘Mommy Eynav is dead, she won’t come back.’ Almog had time to process the trauma.”

Upon 52-year-old Sharabi’s return, he was told the hard news that Hamas murdered his wife, Leanne, and two daughters, Noiya and Yahel, on October 7. His brother Yossi, who was also taken hostage, is believed to be dead.

Ben Ami, 56, was taken hostage with his wife, Raz, who was released in November 2023. His family was reportedly shocked by his appearance.

In an interview with Fox News on Sunday, Trump reiterated his proposal for the Gazans to leave Gaza and the United States to take over and develop it.

“We will build beautiful communities for the 1.9 million people,” Trump said. “We will build safe communities a little bit away from where they are where all of this danger is. In the meantime, I would own this, think of it as a real estate development for the future.”

Trump added that Gazans will not be able to return to Gaza, which he says will take years to make it habitable, but rather will live in permanent communities elsewhere.

“No they wouldn’t because they will have much better housing,” Trump said. “I’m talking about building a permanent place for them. If they have to return now, it will be years before it could happen. I think I could make a deal with Jordan, I think I could make a deal with Egypt. We give them billions and billions of dollars a year.”

Hamas, the terrorist organization that raped, murdered, and kidnapped over a thousand Israeli civilians on October 7, called Trump’s proposal for the United States to take over Gaza a “crime against humanity.”

“What President Trump stated about his intention to displace the residents of the Gaza Strip outside it and the United States’ control over the Strip by force is a crime against humanity,” a senior Hamas official told Fox News.

An Israeli delegation arrived in Doha, Qatar on Saturday night to continue negotiations that Steve Witkoff, the U.S. special envoy to the Middle East, is mediating.