Trump Issues Ultimatum to Hamas Over Hostage Release Deadline
President Trump has set a firm deadline for Hamas to release all hostages held in Gaza, threatening to cancel the ceasefire agreement if unmet by Saturday noon.
President Donald Trump issued an ultimatum to Hamas on Monday: it must release all of the remaining Israeli and American hostages from Gaza by noon on Saturday, or the ceasefire deal is over -- and Israel can respond as it wants.
"All bets are off ... let hell break out," Trump said, speaking to reporters in the Oval Office as he signed executive orders.
The president made his announcement after Hamas said that it would delay the release of hostages in the "first phase" of the six-week ceasefire deal, citing supposed Israeli violations of the deal. Many Israelis speculated that Hamas had been badly stung by the global reaction to the sight of emaciated Israeli hostages being released on Saturday (the president himself said that they reminded him of Holocaust survivors after the Second World War).
The Times of Israel reported:
US President Donald Trump says the Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal should be canceled if all hostages are not released by 12 p.m. on Saturday.
Trump notes that it is ultimately up to Israel, and adds "I'm speaking for myself. Israel can override it."
Trump did not specify whether he meant noon on Saturday in Eastern time, or local time in Israel and Gaza.
Trump said in December that there would be "ALL HELL TO PAY" if Hamas did not release the hostages by January 20. The current hostage deal was reached in January, and Trump appeared to accept the Biden administration's plan to have the hostages released in a multi-phase process.
There are 73 hostages still in Gaza, 17 of whom were still slated to be released in the first phase. Not all of them are alive, and dozens would have remained in captivity until a "second phase" of the agreement.
Now, he wants all of them home.
