President Donald Trump this week as soon as once more threatened Hamas can have “hell to pay” if it does not launch “all” of its remaining hostages — together with an American-Israeli — now claiming this may be his “final warning” and that “it is going to be OVER” for Hamas if it doesn’t comply.
“RELEASE THE HOSTAGES NOW, OR THERE WILL BE HELL TO PAY LATER!” Trump wrote on his social media platform Wednesday, the newest in a number of comparable threats.
“I’m sending Israel all the pieces it wants to complete the job, not a single Hamas member might be protected if you happen to do not do as I say,” Trump additionally wrote, demanding “the entire Hostages now, not later.”
President Donald Trump addresses a joint session of Congress within the Home chamber on the U.S. Capitol in Washington, March 4, 2025.
Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP
Trump’s message got here shortly after he met with eight of the launched hostages from Gaza within the Oval Workplace on Wednesday.
“The President listened intently to their heartbreaking tales,” press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on X. “The hostages thanked President Trump for his steadfast efforts to convey the entire hostages house.”
Adi and Yael Alexander, the mother and father of the final residing American-Israeli hostage, Edan Alexander, attended Trump’s joint handle to Congress on Tuesday.
On Thursday, U.S. Particular Envoy to the Center East Steve Witkoff reiterated the president’s risk, saying, “I would not take a look at President Trump.”
Witkoff emphasised that “there’s going to be some motion taken” if the hostages should not launched. “It might be collectively with the Israelis … it is unclear proper now,” he added.
When requested within the Oval Workplace on Thursday what sort of motion Trump would take and whether or not he would probably be a part of army strikes with Israel, the president responded, “you are going to discover out.”
Hamas dismissed Trump’s risk however argued that the president’s language serves to empower Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“Such positions are what give the struggle legal Netanyahu the power and skill to proceed his crimes so long as he receives absolute assist and encouragement to commit extra crimes in opposition to 2.4 million folks,” head of the Gaza Authorities Workplace stated in response.
“Trump’s threats in opposition to Hamas are unjustified and maintain no worth,” Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri stated in a press release to a Hamas-affiliated information company, arguing that they don’t seem to be intimidated by the president’s phrases. “Such threats needs to be directed at these refusing to implement the settlement, not these dedicated to it.”
In a brand new assertion Thursday, a Hamas army spokesperson threatened to kill extra hostages if there may be “any escalation of aggression in opposition to our folks.”
“The enemy has resorted to bullying, stalling, and reckless aggression,” the spokesman added, saying “the enemy’s threats are an indication of weak spot and humiliation.”
Dana Shem Tov (C) the sister of Israeli hostage Omer Shem Tov reacts as she watches with others his televised launch by Hamas militants on the household house in Tel Aviv, on Feb. 22, 2025.
John Wessels/AFP through Getty Photos
After Part 1 of the ceasefire expired on Saturday, negotiations for Part 2 remained on shaky floor.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated final Saturday that the U.S. is expediting supply of $4 billion in army help to Israel, claiming the transfer was a reversal of what he referred to as a “partial arms embargo” imposed by former President Joe Biden.
Biden denied withholding arms to Israel, apart from pausing a single cargo of MK-84 2,000-pound bombs in Could 2024, saying it could endanger Palestinian civilians if Israel used them in densely populated areas of Gaza.
President Trump lifted the pause when he returned to the White Home.
Israel halted all entry of meals and different provides to Gaza on Sunday, hours after saying a U.S.-proposed ceasefire extension by Ramadan and the Jewish Passover vacation to finish on April 20.
Hamas has refused to just accept the proposed extension, calling it a breach of three-phase deal initially agreed upon, which included an extension of the latest ceasefire, and stated it is not going to launch the remaining captives with out a lasting ceasefire and a full Israeli withdrawal.
On Tuesday, U.S. officers had been immediately negotiating with Hamas at an emergency Arab League summit in Cairo. The summit adopted the Egyptian plan to rebuild Gaza with out the displacement of Palestinian folks, which Israel has rejected.
Automobiles and pedestrians transfer alongside a street amid widespread destruction brought on by the Israeli army’s floor and air offensive in opposition to Hamas in Gaza Metropolis’s Jabaliya refugee camp, Feb. 7, 2025.
Jehad Alshrafi/AP
It had remained unclear what Trump means precisely when threatening “hell.”
Final month, the president demanded that if Hamas did not launch “the entire hostages” by midday on Saturday, Feb. 15, “all bets are off, and let hell escape.”
But the deadline got here and went, and Hamas didn’t free “all” of the hostages — they freed the three hostages that had been scheduled to be launched in accordance with the unique ceasefire settlement.
The seventh and final hostage swap of Part 1 occurred on Feb. 26, the place 4 our bodies had been returned to Israel in change for 642 Palestinian prisoners.
A large show supporting the discharge of all hostages who’ve been held in Gaza for the reason that lethal Oct. 7, 2023 assault, seen on a excessive rise workplaces constructing in Ramat Gan, Israel, Feb. 18, 2025.
Nir Elias/Reuters
Fifty-eight hostages stay in Gaza — 24 of whom are presumed to be alive. Alexander is the final American-Israeli hostage to stay alive in captivity.
Trump has been promising “hell” for months, making this risk even earlier than he was formally sworn into workplace on Jan. 20.
ABC Information’ Morgan Winsor, Will Gretsky, Ellie Kaufman, Shannon Kingston, and Kelsey Walsh contributed to this report.
