Haley spars with Republican rivals at 3rd primary debate as Trump still looms

Some candidates were asked how far they'd go in responding to Iran given what the Pentagon has called recent attacks by Iranian-backed proxy groups on U.S. military bases in Syria and Iraq.

Haley said the U.S. needs to take out the infrastructure used to launch those attacks, arguing Iran responds to "strength."

"You punch them once, you punch them hard, and they will back off," she said.

DeSantis warned of reprisals against Iran if American service members are harmed.

"I would say you: You harm a hair on the head of an American service member and you are going to have hell to pay," he said.

-ABC News' Alexandra Hutzler

Scott and DeSantis threatened to deport students who voice support for Hamas as experts have said antisemitism is on the rise.

"To every student who've come to our country on a visa to a college campus, your visa is a privilege, not a right," Scott said. "To all the students on visas who are encouraging Jewish genocide, I would deport you from those campuses."

"I was the first presidential candidate to say, 'If you are here on a student visa as a foreign national, you're making common cause with Hamas, I'm canceling your visa, and I'm sending you home, no questions asked,'" DeSantis said.

Haley also went after college administrators for what she said was insufficient action to protect Jewish students.

"No person should ever feel in danger like this. And this is what I would say about our college presidents, is if the KKK were doing this, every college president would be up in arms."

Some of the demonstrations seen in the U.S. have been in support of the Palestinian people living in the Gaza and West Bank territories. U.S. officials have repeatedly said that the terror group Hamas is not representative of all Palestinians.

-ABC News' Tal Axelrod

Asked what they would be urging Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to do if they were president, the candidates were united on Israel's right to defend itself against the terrorist group Hamas.

DeSantis said he would tell Netanyahu to "finish the job once and for all with these butchers, Hamas."

"The only thing we should be doing is supporting them in eliminating Hamas," Haley said, while also stressing the need to bring hostages home.

Ramaswamy said he would tell Netanyahu to "smoke those terrorists on his southern border, and I'll tell him as president of the United States, I'll be smoking the terrorists on our southern border."

Scott said he would tell President Joe Biden that diplomacy is a "weak strategy."

"You cannot negotiate with evil. You have to destroy it," he said.

Christie echoed the other candidates, saying, "You must make sure that Hamas can never do this again."

-ABC News' Meredith Deliso

Ramaswamy is being very pointed out of the gate, and it’s a bit of a risky strategy -- he could be seen as more of a bully and it could increase negative perceptions of him. That has already happened to him in one debate so far this year. He came off strong in the first debate, too, and his unfavorable rating increased from 13% to 32% after it, according to a poll by 538/Washington Post/Ipsos.

-Analysis by Nathaniel Rakich of 538