WASHINGTON — President Trump warned Hamas leaders Saturday that “all bets will be off” if the terror group doesn’t “quickly” release all Israeli hostages from the Gaza Strip.
“Hamas must move quickly, or else all bets will be off. I will not tolerate delay, which many think will happen, or any outcome where Gaza poses a threat again,” Trump posted on his Truth Social.
“Let’s get this done, FAST. Everyone will be treated fairly!”
Trump had given Hamas a deadline of Sunday at 6 p.m. to agree to a 21-point peace proposal for the Middle East, starting with the release of all remaining hostages in just 72 hours.
Just 20 hostages are believed to be still alive.
Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, who brokered diplomatic normalization between Israel and Arab nations during Trump’s first term as a Middle East envoy, are leading the US delegation into Cairo on Sunday for ongoing negotiations, a White House official said.
Hamas senior official Mousa Abu Marzouk told Al Jazeera Friday the president’s demands for the terror group to free all Israeli hostages — and the bodies of two Americans who died in captivity — in the timeframe was “unrealistic under current circumstances.”
But the group agreed to do so once “field conditions are met,” referring to a request from Trump for Israel to halt its military from invading Gaza City.
“In light of the Hamas response, Israel is making preparations for the immediate implementation of the first phase of the Trump plan which is the immediate release of all of the hostages,” a statement from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office read Friday.
“We will continue to fully cooperate with the president and his team in order to end the war in accordance with the principles that Israel laid out and which are in line with President Trump’s vision.”
Israeli troops later reduced activity in Gaza City “to a minimum” limited ground operations to strictly defensive actions, according to Army Radio.
“I appreciate that Israel has temporarily stopped the bombing in order to give the Hostage release and Peace Deal a chance to be completed,” Trump said Saturday in his Truth Social post, having said the day before that he believed Hamas was “ready for a lasting PEACE.”
Both Israel and Hamas negotiators have committed to move forward after the hostage-release phase to a period of disarmament in Gaza and a full withdrawal of Israeli forces, at which point an international peacekeeping board led by former British Prime Minister Tony Blair will take over the Palestinian territory.
The peace framework also designates an Arab-led stabilization force will remain there.
But members of Hamas’ armed wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, remain opposed to the demands for complete release of the hostages and total disarmament without assurances that Israel’s military permanently removes itself from Gaza, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday.
Abu Marzouk also insisted that “details related to the peacekeeping force need understandings and clarification” but said the “priority is to stop the war and massacres.”
Trump unveiled the peace proposal Monday with Netanyahu and said the Jewish state would have his permission to “finish the job” if Hamas didn’t sign on to the plan.
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