US President Donald Trump has not explicitly backed or opposed Israel’s plan to seize Gaza City, but he agrees with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that more military pressure is required on Hamas, Al Jazeera reports citing news site Axios.

Hamas “are not going to let the hostages out in the current situation”, the US president said during a brief phone interview, adding that the US and Israel knew it was going to be “very rough to get them”.

After Netanyahu’s office said the Israeli prime minister discussed with Trump plans to “take control of the remaining Hamas strongholds in Gaza” during a phone call on Sunday, Trump has now described it as a “good call”.

The US president said Israel must decide what to do next, but he believes that Hamas “can’t stay there” in Gaza any longer.