US President Trump on Monday night warned the Hamas terror group to release all remaining hostages by noon Saturday, or he would allow Israel to cancel the ongoing cease-fire and “let hell break out” in the Middle East.
“As far as I’m concerned, if all of the hostages aren’t returned by Saturday at 12 o’clock — I think it’s an appropriate time — I would say, cancel it and all bets are off and let hell break out,” the president told reporters in the Oval Office, without specifying what time zone the deadline would apply to.
Trump did not rule out sending US troops to the region — telling reporters “we’ll see what happens” — and did not expand on what he meant by “all hell is going to break out.”
“You’ll find out, and they’ll find out too. Hamas will find out what I mean,” he said, also without revealing whether he was referring to Israeli or US military force.
Eli Sharabi, Ohad Ben Ami and Or Levy — three Israelis who were released by Hamas on Saturday — were severely malnutritioned and had lost significant weight while being held captive during the last 16 months.
Hamas announced earlier Monday it was scrapping a scheduled hostage release for this weekend, arguing that Israel had not lived up to its side of the deal.
Abu Obeida, a spokesperson for Hamas’ military section, said the terror group wanted something in return for Israel allegedly breaking its cease-fire agreement.
“Hostages who were scheduled to be released next Saturday … will be postponed until further notice, and until the occupation commits to and compensates for the entitlements of the past weeks retroactively,” Obeida wrote on X.
Hamas’ propaganda office in Gaza accused Israel Monday of not sending adequate humanitarian supplies to the Mediterranean territory — especially in the north, where much of the infrastructure is destroyed.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz criticized Hamas’ message as an “outright violation of the cease-fire,” per the Times of Israel.
Trump, 78, made his comment while signing executive orders in the Oval Office, repeating a line he has used before to directly threaten the terror group controlling the Gaza Strip. (with inputs from international media outlets)
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