President-elect Donald Trump is demanding the immediate release of Israeli hostages still being held in Gaza, saying that if they are not freed before he is sworn into office for a second term there will be “hell to pay”.
In a post on his Truth Social site, Mr Trump 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, and for those in charge who perpetrated these atrocities against Humanity.”
He added: “Those responsible will be hit harder than anybody has been hit in the long and storied History of the United States of America. RELEASE THE HOSTAGES NOW!”
Thank you and bless you Mr. President-elect @realDonaldTrump.
We all pray for the moment we see our sisters and brothers back home! pic.twitter.com/Vm2WwtMNYZ
— יצחק הרצוג Isaac Herzog (@Isaac_Herzog) December 2, 2024
It was not immediately clear whether Mr Trump was threatening to directly involve the US military in Israel’s ongoing campaign against Hamas in Gaza.
Mr Trump’s allies have said he hopes there will be a ceasefire and hostage release deal before he returns to office early next year.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office declined to comment, but the country’s president, Isaac Herzog, welcomed Mr Trump’s comments in a social media post.
“Thank you and bless you Mr President-elect @realDonaldTrump,” he wrote on X. “We all pray for the moment we see our sisters and brothers back home!”
The war in Gaza began when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking around 250 people hostage on October 7 2023.
Some 100 are still held inside Gaza and around two-thirds are believed to be alive.
Mr Trump’s threat came hours after the Israeli government confirmed the death of Omer Neutra, a dual US-Israeli citizen, whose body is still believed to be held by Hamas in Gaza, according to the Israeli government.
Days earlier, Hamas released a hostage video of Edan Alexander, who was serving in the Israeli military when he was taken by Hamas to Gaza.
Filmed under apparent duress, Mr Alexander calls on Mr Trump to work to negotiate for his freedom and that of the remaining Hamas hostages.
The Biden administration is mounting a last-ditch effort to try to restart talks between Israel and Hamas now that it has brokered a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
But the administration has said that Hamas has yet to show a willingness to re-engage in negotiations and that the group isn’t concerned for its own lives or the lives of Gaza’s civilians.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive for the attack has left at least 44,429 Palestinians dead, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.
The war has destroyed vast areas of the coastal enclave and displaced 90% of its population of 2.3 million people — often multiple times.
