Trump demands release of October 7 hostages, warning of ‘hell to pay’

New York: President-elect Donald Trump has demanded the immediate release of the Israeli hostages still being held in Gaza, saying that if they are not freed before he is sworn into office, there will be “HELL TO PAY”.

“Please let this TRUTH serve to represent that 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,” Trump wrote in a post on his Truth Social site.

President-elect Donald Trump.Credit: AP

He added: “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!”

The war in Gaza began when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel, killing some 1200 people, mostly civilians, and taking around 250 people hostage on October 7, 2023.

Israel’s retaliatory offensive for the attack has left at least 44,429 Palestinians dead, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. The war has destroyed vast areas of the coastal enclave and displaced 90 per cent of its population of 2.3 million people — often multiple times.

It was not immediately clear whether Trump was threatening to directly involve the US military in Israel’s ongoing campaign against Hamas in Gaza. Trump allies have said he hopes there will be a ceasefire and hostage release deal before he returns to office early next year.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office declined comment on Trump’s threat.

But the country’s president, Isaac Herzog, welcomed Trump’s comments in a social media post.

“Thank you and bless you Mr. President-elect @realDonaldTrump,” he wrote on X. “We all pray for the moment we see our sisters and brothers back home!”

Trump’s warning came hours after the Israeli government confirmed the death of Omer Neutra, a dual US-Israeli citizen, whose body is still believed to be held by Hamas in Gaza, according to the Israeli government.

Days earlier, Hamas released a hostage video of Edan Alexander, who was serving in the Israeli military when he was taken by Hamas to Gaza. Filmed under apparent duress, Alexander calls on Trump to work to negotiate for his freedom and that of the remaining Hamas hostages.

The Biden administration is mounting a last-ditch effort to try to restart talks between Israel and Hamas now that it has brokered a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon. But the administration has said that Hamas has yet to show a willingness to re-engage in negotiations and that the group isn’t concerned for its own lives or the lives of Gaza civilians.

Experts have already warned of famine in the northernmost part of Gaza, which Israeli forces have almost completely isolated since early October.

Displaced families have set up tents surrounded by piles of garbage on the streets of Gaza City. Bilal Marouf, 55, said he and 11 family members fled the Israeli offensive “barefoot and naked”.

“We had nothing. Hunger and thirst killed us, and we did not have a single shekel, nor clothes, nor a mattress, nor a blanket,” he said, speaking near his tent.

The Israeli military said it allowed 40 trucks carrying more than 550 metric tonnes of flour for the World Food Program to enter the southern Gaza Strip on Sunday night, as well as 16 other food trucks.

Israel has said it is working to increase the flow of aid. November saw an increase in the average number of humanitarian trucks it let into Gaza, up to 77 daily from 57 the month before, according to official Israeli figures.

But the levels are still nearly the lowest of the entire 15-month war.

AP

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