Donald Trump issued a stark warning that the U.S. would help destroy Hamas if leaders of the militant group didn’t leave Gaza and release their remaining Israeli hostages.
“Release all of the Hostages now, not later, and immediately return all of the dead bodies of the people you murdered, or it is OVER for you,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Wednesday, after meeting with six former hostages released under the recently expired ceasefire deal pausing the war.
“I am sending Israel everything it needs to finish the job, not a single Hamas member will be safe if you don’t do as I say,” he added, telling the group his post was a “last warning.”
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz had a similar message earlier this week, telling Hamas, “The gates of Gaza will be locked, and the gates of hell will open.”
The comments came as the initial stage of a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war expired over the weekend.
The U.S. has called on Hamas to accept an extension of the first stage, involving hostage releases, while Hamas has sought to negotiate other questions such as the post-war governance of Gaza.
In the meantime, Israel has paused aid entering into Gaza and threatened the militant group with “additional consequences” if it doesn’t come around to the U.S. proposal.
Israel’s decision to cut off aid to the already besieged civilian population of Gaza has prompted international criticism from the UK, France and Germany.
Foreign ministers from the three countries said in a statement Wednesday that aid “should never be contingent on a ceasefire or used as a political tool”.
The White House said it has been conducting “ongoing talks and discussions” with Hamas officials.
“Look, dialogue and talking to people around the world to do what’s in the best interest of the American people is something that the president has proven is what he believes is [a] good faith effort to do what’s right for the American people,” Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said at a media briefing.
The talks are the first known direct engagement with Hamas since the State Department declared the group an official foreign terrorist organization in 1997.
The issue of Gaza’s post-conflict governance remains to be determined, though Trump has proposed the U.S. occupying and rebuilding the territory while displacing its residents, a plan critics say amounts to ethnic cleansing.
There are 24 living hostages remaining in Gaza, including American citizen Edan Alexander, as well as the remains of 35 others, according to officials.
The warnings from U.S. and Israeli officials come after Hamas provoked fury in Israel for returning remains that officials say were falsely attributed to Shiri Bibas, a mother who was kidnapped along with her children then killed in Hamas captivity.
The IDF claims militants killed Bibas, while Hamas says she died in an Israeli strike.