The Gaza invasion of Israel on October 7th, 2023 marked one of the “worst days in history,” said President Donald Trump in Doha on Thursday.

During a meeting with business leaders in the Qatari capital, Trump lamented the 2023 invasion of southwestern Israel, during which some 1,200 people were killed and over 250 taken hostage.

October 7th was “one of the worst days in the history of the world, not only in this region,” the president said, calling it “one of the worst, most atrocious attacks anyone has ever seen.”

During the meeting, Trump also echoed his comments made in the White House on February 4th, in which he suggested the U.S. take control of the Gaza Strip.

“If it’s necessary, I think I’d be proud to have the United States have it, take it, make it a freedom zone,” Trump said.

“Let some good things happen, put people in homes where they can be safe and Hamas is going to have to be dealt with,” the president continued, without mentioning whether he still backed his previous call to resettle the entire population of the Gaza Strip abroad.

“We’re working very hard in Gaza. Gaza has been a territory of death and destruction.”