US President-elect Donald Trump has reiterated his warning to Gaza based Hamas militant group to release the hostages held by them before his inauguration on January 20 otherwise “all hell will break out”.
“It will not be good for Hamas and it will not be good, frankly, for anyone. All hell will break out. I don’t have to say anymore, but that’s what it is,” Trump said in a statement at his Mar-a-Lago estate on Tuesday, adding Hamas should not have attacked Israel on October 7, 2023.
Trump was responding to questions from reporters about the status of negotiations with Hamas on the release of American hostages by them.
Steve Witkoff, Trump’s Special Envoy to the Middle East, who recently returned from the Middle East region said that Hamas is at the verge of releasing hostages and a ceasefire deal is about to be finalised.
“I believe we’ve been on the verge of it. I don’t want to discuss sort of what’s delayed it, no point to be negative in any way. But I think it’s the president, his stature, what he’s said he expects, the red lines he’s put out there, that’s driving this negotiation,” Witkoff said.
However, a senior official of the Biden administration said that the negotiations remain “difficult”. Trump further added that “They (Hamas) should have given them back a long time ago, they should have never taken them.”
In a surprise attack on October 7, 2023, the Hamas militant group killed over 1,200 people in Israel and took over 250 people hostage, according to the Israeli administration.
It led to an escalation of hostilities in the region and conflicts between Israel and Hamas, Hezbollah, Houthis among others.
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