President Trump promises 'hell' if Hamas fails to release hostages

Relatives of hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip, protest  in Tel Aviv (AAP)

Relatives of hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip, protest in Tel Aviv Source: AAP / Ohad Zwigenberg/AP

United States President Donald Trump has said that "all hell is going to break out" if Hamas doesn't release all remaining hostages in Gaza this week. The announcement comes after Hamas said it will stop releasing hostages until further notice after accusing Israel of violating the multi-phase ceasefire agreement. So far, 16 of 33 hostages covered by the initial phase of the deal have been released, along with five Thai hostages.


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TRANSCRIPT

In the latest chapter in the uneasy negotiations between Palestinian militant group Hamas and the state of Israel, Hamas says it will stop releasing Israeli hostages from Gaza until further notice over what it says are violations of the ceasefire deal.

Hamas spokesman, Abu Ubaida, claims that since the ceasefire came into effect on 19 January, Israel has continued to target Gazans with military shelling and gunfire, delayed displaced Palestinians from returning to their homes in the north, and continued to disrupt the delivery of essential aid.

In response to the announcement, protesters and relatives of hostages held in Gaza blocked the main highway in Tel Aviv calling on both Hamas and the Israeli government to ensure all hostages seized on October 7, 2023 are returned home.

"Yeah, I don't, I don't care what they (Hamas) say. I...they all need to come home now. Every single person that doesn't belong there needs to come home now. Every single one of them. No need to delay, nothing. Send them all home. This is where they all belong."

In response to Hamas, the Israeli government also accused the militants of violating the ceasefire themselves and has instructed their military to prepare for more potential combat.

Another exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners was scheduled to take place on Saturday.

So far, 16 of the 33 hostages to be released in the first 42-day phase of the deal have come home, as well as five Thai hostages who were returned in an unscheduled release.

In exchange, Israel has released hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and detainees, some of whom were serving life sentences for deadly attacks.

Others were political prisoners and those held without charge.

But now, in seeming defiance to the long-negotiated ceasefire deal, US President Donald Trump has demanded all remaining hostages must be released by Saturday otherwise there could be consequences.

"Saturday at 12, we want them all back. I'm speaking for myself and Israel can override it but, from myself, Saturday at 12 o'clock and if they're not here all hell is going to break out."

Earlier, the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had said an Israeli delegation had returned from ceasefire talks in Qatar, amid already growing doubts over the Egyptian and Qatari-brokered process to end the war.

Israeli government spokesman David Mencer says Israel is still committed to the multi-phase process which would see Israeli forces pull out of Palestinian territory in Gaza as well as the return of more hostages, including the remains of some of those killed during the war in Gaza.

"When it comes to phase two, these discussions on a permanent ceasefire with our partners in the US have most definitely begun and and as I said, in reality they've never really ended. So yes, these discussions, we believe will be difficult, but we are committed to getting our hostages home and achieving all of the other war aims, and we will not end this war until all of our goals are met."

One of those goals - the complete destruction of Hamas - has so far eluded Israel since war broke out in October 2023.

Meanwhile in Gaza, the people are growing more concerned about a potential breakdown of the ceasefire as well as President Trump's proposal for the US to take ownership of Gaza and move its Palestinian inhabitants elsewhere.

Mohammad Yusuf of Khan Younis says his people have begun stocking up on whatever supplies they can due to concern that the deal could fall apart.

"There is no safety, because any flaw in the agreement leads to the return of war and the threat of a return of war. People, due to the many things they faced during the war, have become afraid of anything from any statement, from both sides, whether from the enemy or the ruling authority in Gaza."

President Trump has strengthened his pitch to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict by seizing control of Gaza and redeveloping it as a real estate opportunity.

He told Fox News that once the Palestinians are removed from their land they will not have a right to return to their homes in the future.

TRUMP: "I would own this (Gaza). Think of it as a real estate development for the future. It would be a beautiful piece of land.”

REPORTER: “Would the Palestinians have the right to return?”

TRUMP: “No, they wouldn't, because they're going to have much better housing."

Visiting professor at Princeton University and former leader of Human Rights Watch, Kenneth Roth, says this would be a blatant war crime.

"What Trump is proposing is a blatant war crime and arguably a crime against humanity. Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949, which Israel, the United States and basically everybody else has ratified, so this is international law, prohibits forcing people in occupied territory to leave - exactly what Trump is proposing. And what Trump is doing here is, in a sense, endorsing the far-right Israeli view for how to solve the Palestinian problem; just get rid of the Palestinians."

Meanwhile, as opposition politicians accused him of allowing hostages to die in Gaza, Israel's far-right leader Benjamin Netanyahu told the Knesset that he believes Mr Trump's plan is a bold one.

"President Trump presented a new, revolutionary idea for the day after Hamas so a terror state will not rise again in Gaza."


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