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Trump Says Schumer Has ‘Become a Proud Member of Hamas,’ Slams Top Democrats for Israel Stance
US Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) holds a press conference in the US Capitol in Washington, DC, April 23, 2024. Photo: Annabelle Gordon / CNP/Sipa USA via Reuters Connect
Former US President Donald Trump attacked Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s (NY) record on Israel at a rally on Wednesday night, claiming the lawmaker has “become a Palestinian” and a “proud member of Hamas.”
While speaking to an audience in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Trump criticized Schumer, the highest-ranking Jewish US elected official, for allegedly distancing himself from Israel and refusing to shake the hand of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during his visit to the United States last week.
“Chuck Schumer refused to shake the Israeli prime minister’s hand. Chuck Schumer has become a Palestinian. Yes, yes, can you believe it? He’s become a proud member of Hamas,” said Trump, the 2024 Republican presidential nominee.
In response, Schumer said in a statement: “The lower [Trump] drops in polls, the more unhinged he becomes.”
Schumer has issued withering criticism toward Netanyahu in the months following the Palestinian terror group Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel. The lawmaker called for new elections in Israel to replace Netanyahu during a March 14 speech on the Senate floor, a nearly unprecedented statement by such a high ranking US official calling on the people of a close democratic ally to replace its leadership.
Specifically, Schumer accused Netanyahu of aligning himself with “extremists” and condemned his approach to the ongoing Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.
“It has become clear to me the Netanyahu coalition no longer fits the needs of Israel after Oct. 7,” Schumer said, noting the date when Hamas terrorists invaded the Jewish state from Gaza and started the conflict.
In response, Netanyahu called Schumer’s remarks “totally inappropriate.”
“It’s inappropriate to go to a sister democracy and try to replace the elected leadership there. That’s something the Israeli public does on its own,” Netanyahu said on CNN.
Schumer also claimed that the Israeli premier “lost his way” and warned that Israel risks becoming an international “pariah” due to its military campaign targeting Hamas terrorists in Gaza.
Despite his comments, Schumer ultimately signed onto the formal congressional invitation for Netanyahu to address a joint session of the US Congress last week.
During Wednesday’s campaign rally, Trump also took aim at Rep. House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), the former speaker of the House. Trump lambasted Pelosi for condemning Netanyahu’s congressional address as “by far the worst presentation of any foreign dignitary invited and honored with the privilege of addressing the Congress of the United States.”
“Nancy Pelosi, likewise, denounced the speech in shameful terms,” Trump said.
Earlier this year, Pelosi joined several House Democrats in co-signing a letter urging US President Joe Biden to cease arms shipments to Israel, accusing the Jewish state of recklessly endangering civilian lives in Gaza. Pelosi refused to attend Netanyahu’s speech and publicly repudiated the bipartisan invite to the Israeli leader as “wrong.”
Beyond Schumer and Pelosi, Trump vowed to help the Jewish state with the ongoing war against Hamas, which rules Gaza. Touting his personal relationships with “all the players” involved in the conflict, Trump stressed that he will help Israel achieve “peace through strength.”
The former president also chided current US Vice President and presumptive 2024 Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris for skipping Netanyahu’s address in favor of attending the convention for a historically black sorority.
“You saw that instead of sending a clear signal that the United States will never abandon an ally, a very important one,” Trump said. “Kamala chose to politicize the moment to grand stand, making a show of refusing to attend. You know where she was? She went to a sorority party. Could you believe it? Even though it was her duty as president of the Senate to be there? It was her duty to be there. Her Democrat allies fell in line.”
Although the White House claimed that Harris’ absence was the result of a scheduling conflict, critics have speculated that Harris made a calculated decision not to attend Netanyahu’s address. Facing pressure from far-left progressives to turn against Israel, several prominent Democrats have become increasingly critical of the Jewish state, calling to condition Washington’s military aid to Israel and even suggesting the Jewish state is committing genocide during its defensive military operations in Gaza.
Top Biden administration officials, including Harris, have expressed “ironclad” support for Israel’s security but rebuked the Jewish state for its war effort in Hamas-ruled Gaza, citing the humanitarian situation there and number of civilian casualties.
Roughly half of House and Senate Democrats skipped Netanyahu’s speech, with many making clear they were boycotting the event in protest of Israel’s prosecution of the war in Gaza. Some argued the Israeli prime minister was meddling in US politics or using the speech to boost his own position at home, taking shots at the Israeli premier over social media.
The post Trump Says Schumer Has ‘Become a Proud Member of Hamas,’ Slams Top Democrats for Israel Stance first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.