Trump: Turkey 'Behind' Syrian Assad Overthrow; Hamas Appears to Ease Demands Blocking Hostage Deal

JERUSALEM, Israel – "We had a very good talk." That's how President-elect Donald Trump described his recent conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a Monday press conference.

Their talk included the current state of the Middle East after the fall of the Syrian government and the plight of the hostages held by Hamas.

During the hour-long press conference, the president-elect weighed in on the sudden takeover of Damascus by rebel forces and suggested Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was deeply involved since Syria is part of his plan to reconstruct a Turkish empire.

"Turkey is the one behind it," Trump stated. "He's a very smart guy. They've wanted it for thousands of years. And he got it.  And those people that went in are controlled by Turkey. And that's okay. It's another way to fight." 

Trump's comments come as U.S. officials fear Erdogan's Turkish forces are massing on the border with Northeast Syria for an imminent invasion.

Northeast Syria is an area controlled by Kurdish forces and an independent and democratic government that was an ally of the U.S. in the war against ISIS.

As to Israel's war with Iran's proxies, Trump was bullish on his talk with Netanyahu.

"The real conversations will start on the 20th (of January)," he said. "But we had a really good conversation, and I think we're going to be in a good place in the Middle East."

Trump also asserted that getting the hostages free is a priority.

"As you know," he stated, "I gave warning that if these hostages aren't back home by that date, all hell is going to break out. And very strong."

The release of the hostages is one of the toughest issues on the table since October 7th, 2023. Now that Hamas realizes Hezbollah and Iran are not coming to its rescue, the group may be ready to finally bargain with Israel.

Defense Minister Israel Katz told the Knesset Monday that a deal is the nearest it's been since the last agreement.

“We all estimate that an opportunity is being created following Hamas’s need to become more flexible and I really hope we can advance to a practical stage in this process," Katz said. “I directed the whole security establishment to set the whole issue of the hostages on top of our priority list."

According to The Washington Post, Hamas is no longer insisting on an end to the war and the departure of Israeli troops from Gaza as a pre-condition for releasing hostages.

Meanwhile, despite Hamas claims that the death toll in Gaza has topped 45,000, a new study reports the terror group has vastly inflated the number of Gazans killed in the 14-month war.   

The Henry Jackson Society disputes the death toll released by the Hamas-run Ministry of Health in Gaza.

It concludes that Hamas' reporting included a number of distortions., including:

 - Men listed as women to inflate female fatalities

 - Adults registered as children to inflate child fatalities

 - Counting 5,000 natural deaths and deaths of people killed by Hamas in the totals

 - Counting deaths incurred before the war began 

 - No mention of combatants' deaths, which numbered as many as 17,000

Military Historian John Spencer has indicated that during its war with Hamas, Israel has done more to mitigate civilian deaths than any other military in history.

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