Update: Trump OKs Hamas control of Gaza ‘for a period of time' — then threatens Hamas

Updated 2 pm Thursday

After he explicitly approved Hamas' reassertion of its control over the Gaza Strip on Wednesday night, President Trump warned on Thursday afternoon "if Hamas continues to kill people in Gaza, we will have no choice but to go in and kill them."

Trump's comments on Wednesday — which were sparsely reported — followed the terror group’s public assassination of rival Gazans.

Trump told reporters in recorded, on-the-record remarks on Wednesday, that Hamas’ execution of rivals “didn’t bother me much, to be honest with you.”

“We gave them approval for a period of time,” Trump said. 

“They did take out a couple of gangs that were very bad — very, very bad gangs,” he said. “And they did take ’em out. And they killed a number of gang members. And that didn’t bother me much, to be honest with you. That’s okay. A couple of very bad gangs.”