The Palestinian terror group Hamas dismissed US President Donald Trump’s promise to unleash hell if the remaining Israeli hostages are not released by Saturday afternoon.
“Trump must remember that there is an agreement that must be respected by both parties and this is the only way to return the prisoners,” Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri told AFP, referring to the hostages. He added, “The language of threats has no value and further complicates matters.”
On Monday, the president appeared to propose cancelling the ceasefire if the hostages were not released by his deadline, as reported by the Times of Israel.
“As far as I’m concerned, if all of the hostages aren’t returned by Saturday 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,” Trump told reporters.
The ceasefire deal signed in January planned to release the remaining hostages and Palestinian prisoners over the course of a series of stages. However, Hamas has asserted that Israel has already violated the deal by preventing civilians from returning to their homes in northern Gaza.
AFP
Three Israeli hostages were scheduled to be freed by Hamas on Saturday, however the militant group said it wished to re-enter negotiations after also accusing Israel of continuing gunfire in Gaza and restricting the flow of aid, the Daily Mail reported.
About 1,200 people were killed during Hamas’ attack on Oct. 7, 2023 and more than 250 hostages were captured. As of January 15, more than 46,600 Palestinians have been killed and more than 1 million have been displaced from their homes, as reported by Reuters.
Trump previously came under fire from Democratic lawmakers, activists and even some Republicans when he said that he was interested in developing and rebuilding Gaza into “the Riviera of the Middle East.”
The president added in a Sunday interview with Fox News that Palestinians would not be able to return to Gaza, and they would instead be housed in “beautiful communities.”
Originally published by Latin Times.
