President Trump issued a public warning to the Hamas terror group Wednesday that he is “sending Israel everything it needs to finish the job” and urged them to release all remaining hostages immediately “OR THERE WILL BE HELL TO PAY LATER!”
“‘Shalom Hamas’ means Hello and Goodbye – You can choose,” the president wrote on Truth Social after meeting with eight freed hostages in the Oval Office Wednesday.
“Release all of the Hostages now, not later, and immediately return all of the dead bodies of the people you murdered, or it is OVER for you. Only sick and twisted people keep bodies, and you are sick and twisted!”
Trump added that “not a single Hamas member will be safe if you don’t do as I say.”
“I have just met with your former Hostages whose lives you have destroyed,” the president raged.
“This is your last warning! For the leadership, now is the time to leave Gaza, while you still have a chance. Also, to the People of Gaza: A beautiful Future awaits, but not if you hold Hostages. If you do, you are DEAD! Make a SMART decision. RELEASE THE HOSTAGES NOW, OR THERE WILL BE HELL TO PAY LATER!”
Trump’s demand for Hamas leaders to “leave Gaza” has historical precedent — with the Palestinian Liberation Organization evacuating thousands of fighters from Beirut, Lebanon, in 1982 in response to an Israeli encirclement.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that Trump met privately with former hostages Iair Horn, Omer Shem Tov, Eli Sharabi, Keith Siegel, Aviva Siegel, Naama Levy, Doron Steinbrecher and Noa Argamani.
“Today, President Trump took time to meet with eight of the released hostages from Gaza. The President listened intently to their heartbreaking stories. The hostages thanked President Trump for his steadfast efforts to bring all of the hostages home,” Leavitt said.
Hours earlier, the White House confirmed that administration officials had been holding direct talks with Hamas to secure the release of at least some hostages.
At least one American citizen hostage — Edan Alexander, 21 — is believed to remain alive following the abductions that took place during Hamas terrorists’ Oct. 7, 2023, rampage that triggered Israel’s invasion, which halted with a cease-fire agreement in January.
Trump previously has issued stark warnings to Hamas warning of consequences for keeping captives.
In December, the then-president-elect wrote: “Please let this TRUTH serve to represent that if the hostages are not released prior to January 20, 2025, the date that I proudly assume Office as President of the United States, there will be ALL HELL TO PAY in the Middle East.”
Hamas reached an agreement shortly before Trump entered the White House in what widely was perceived to be a response to his pressure.
Alexander, the sole known American believed to be alive, was serving in the Israeli military when he was captured and therefore was not released in the initial wave of liberations under the terms of the cease-fire.
Trump again threatened last month that ““all hell is going to break out” if Hamas didn’t release the remaining captives, by “Saturday [Feb. 15] at 12 o’clock” before deferring to Israeli leadership on the next steps.
The US president has proposed clearing out “all” of Gaza’s roughly 2-million-person population to neighboring Jordan and Egypt to allow for reconstruction of a US-owned “international unbelievable place” that would be regarded as “the Riviera of the Middle East.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu all but endorsed the concept, but Arab countries in the region have refused to entertain the mass relocation of Gazans.
Comments