President-elect of the United State, Donald Trump on Monday demanded that the hostages taken in the Hamas-led attack on Israel be released from Gaza before his inauguration in January, or there will be “hell to pay” in the Middle East for those responsible.
Without pointing finger at any militant group, Mr. Trump said in his post on Social Truth: “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.
“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!” Trump threatened.
About 250 hostages were captured in the Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct, 7, 2023, and about 100 of them remain in Gaza, with about a third believed to be dead, according to the Israeli authorities.
It was not clear what tactic Mr. Trump might take that has not already been taken already by Israel, which has killed many of Hamas’s leaders and thousands of its fighters, while leveling much of Gaza.
Mr. Trump said in his post on Monday, “It’s all talk and no action” when it comes to the hostages, and his statement suggesting that he could use the power of his office to punish those who took the captives is the first sign of how aggressively Mr. Trump might handle Middle East policy when he resumes office.
About 105 hostages were released last year when there was a lull in the war. And efforts to broker a cease-fire deal appeared to stall last month after mediators met in Egypt.
Some hostages have also been rescued in Israeli military operations. But there have been protests and widespread frustration in Israel over the lack of a deal to secure their freedom, with critics of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel saying that he has failed to prioritize their release over his political survival.
The President-Elect had warned Mr. Netanyahu that he wants the war in the enclave to end before he returns to the White House. And at the Republican National Convention in July, he said that he wanted the hostages returned and that captors “will be paying a very big price.”
His latest warning came after Hamas released a propaganda video showing the American-Israeli hostage Edan Alexander, 20, pleading with Mr. Trump to secure his release.
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