‘Release hostages now or face hell’ Trump tells Hamas after secret hostage talks

Donald Trump has demanded Hamas leaves Gaza ‘while you still have the chance.’ after his hostages envoy met directly with Hamas officials in Doha for unprecedented talks.

A child looks on as Palestinians and Hamas fighters gather shortly before the release three Israeli hostages. Picture: AFP.

Donald Trump has told Hamas to release all remaining hostages of face “hell”, demanding the militant group leaves Gaza “while you still have the chance.”

Hours after the White House admitted it had opened unprecedented clandestine talks with Hamas over the release of American hostages in Gaza, Mr Trump posted on his Truth Social site: “To the People of Gaza: A beautiful Future awaits, but not if you hold Hostages. If you do, you are DEAD! Make a SMART decision. RELEASE THE HOSTAGES NOW, OR THERE WILL BE HELL TO PAY LATER!”

In the same post, the US leader told Hamas to “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.” “This is your last warning! For the leadership, now is the time to leave Gaza, while you still have a chance,” he posted.

“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 wrote. “This is your last warning!”

"'Shalom Hamas' means Hello and Goodbye - You can choose. 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. Only sick and twisted people keep bodies, and you are sick and twisted! I am… pic.twitter.com/88EjVAyWAe

— President Donald J. Trump (@POTUS) March 5, 2025

The post came after the White House confirmed Adam Boehler, President Trump’s envoy for hostage affairs, had met directly over recent weeks with Hamas officials in Doha, Qatar. The negotiations mark the first time the US has engaged directly with the Palestinian militant group that it designated a terrorist organisation in 1997.

News of the secret talks is likely to enrage Israel, which has imposed a new blockade on Gaza six weeks into a fragile truce in the 15-month conflict as they seek to force Hamas to accept an alternative ceasefire agreement and return all remaining Israeli hostages.

Confirming the report on Wednesday Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, said the negotiations with Hamas were a “good faith effort” and insisted that “Israel was consulted on this matter … These are ongoing talks and discussions, I am not going to detail them here, there are American lives at stake.”

Administration officials didn’t immediately say whether Mr Trump’s threat might involve US military action against Hamas or backing a resumption of Israel’s war against the terror group, US media reports.

Mr Trump posted his remarks after meeting eight former Israeli hostages, whom he told after listening to their “horrible stories”: “ We’ll get them out. Watch. We’ll get them out.”

The hostages thanked both Mr Trump and his Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff “for their efforts in securing their release from Hamas hell,” saying they had stressed to the President the urgency of returning the remaining captives from Gaza.

“(Mr Trump and Witkoff) made a deal possible, they got us all home,” Keith Siegel said in the statement released by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum. “We urged them to continue their enormous efforts. They have done so much. We trust them and we know they will get the job done to get all the rest of the 59 remaining hostages held in Gaza back to their families, back to Israel.”

The talks with Hamas focused on the release of the remaining US hostages in Gaza.

Five Americans are believed to remain among the hostages seized in the October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas on Israel. Four of them have been confirmed dead and the other, Edan Alexander, 21, is believed to be the last surviving US captive.

The group is holding 59 hostages in total, with Israeli intelligence believing 22 are still alive.

The first phase of a ceasefire ended over the weekend after six weeks of relative calm that included exchanges of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.

While Israel has said it wants to extend the first phase until mid-April, Hamas has insisted on a transition to the second phase, which should lead to a permanent end to the war.

The talks between the US and Hamas also included discussion of a broader deal to secure the release of all the remaining hostages in return for a long-term truce, according to the Axios website. No deal has yet been reached.

Mr Trump has said the US should “take over” Gaza, forcing the Palestinian population to leave for neighbouring Arab states and converting the war-torn territory into a “Riviera of the Middle East”. Arab governments have condemned Mr Trump’s proposal, while Binyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, has embraced the idea.

Mr Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, plans to return to the region in the coming days in an attempt to broker an extension of the first phase of the ceasefire deal or an advance to the second stage. That would involve the withdrawal of all Israeli troops and the release of all remaining hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.

Mr Boehler, whose role gives him the rank of ambassador, has been instrumental in securing the release of several US hostages around the globe since Mr Trump took office.

Agencies