Israel war lives updates: Trump warns ‘all hell to pay’ if Gaza hostages not freed

Donald Trump has warned of dire consequences if Israeli hostages taken by Hamas are not released by late January, as the Israel Defense Force confirmed another captive was dead.

Donald Trump has threatened there will be “ALL HELL TO PAY” if Hamas does not release its hostages before he returns to the White House next year.

In a post on his social media platform, the President-elect complained there had been “all talk, and no action” about freeing the hostages who were kidnapped during the October 7 terrorist attack on Israel.

“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,” Mr Trump said.

“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!”

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump. Picture: AP

It comes after Omer Neutra, a 21-year-old New Yorker from Plainview, Long Island, who was kidnapped by Hamas during the October 7 attack, was confirmed dead.

Mr Neutra, an IDF tank commander, was initially believed to have survived the assault. However, the Israel Defence Force later determined he was killed during the attack, and his body was taken to the Gaza Strip by Hamas.

Ronen and Orna Neutra, parents of Omer Neutra. Picture: AFP

Israeli authorities say there are still 62 hostages alive in Gaza.

Hamas is also holding the bodies of 35 hostages who were murdered — either on October 7 or while they were in captivity.

FOLLOW UPDATES BELOW:

HAMAS TRUCE TALKS RESUME

A Hamas delegation discussed a ceasefire in Gaza with Egyptian intelligence officials, two officials from the Palestinian Islamist group told AFP.

The “delegation met with the head of the Egyptian general intelligence, Major General Hassan Rashad, and a number of Egyptian intelligence officials, and discussed ways to stop the war and aggression, bring in aid, and open the Rafah crossing” at Gaza’s border with Egypt, said a senior Hamas official who was part of the Cairo meeting.

A second Hamas official also present in Cairo told AFP that “Egypt, Qatar and Turkey are making great efforts to reach an agreement for a ceasefire and prisoner exchange”.

“Our Palestinian people are waiting for American and international pressure on (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu to stop the war and reach an agreement as happened in Lebanon,” the official said.

Palestinians who returned briefly to the Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip to check on their homes, run for cover after a school was hit by an Israeli strike. Picture: AFP

The meeting came shortly after Israel and Lebanese armed group Hezbollah agreed on a ceasefire in Lebanon with mediation from the United States and France.

Egyptian authorities did not publicly comment on any meetings with Hamas.

The first official said any deal Hamas agrees to should include the conditions the movement has brought forward since the start of the war.

These include a full ceasefire, complete Israeli military withdrawal, unimpeded entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza, the return of displaced Palestinians to their homes, “a serious deal to exchange prisoners in one go or in two stages”, and reconstruction of the war-ravaged Palestinian territory.

Palestinians walk in a devastated neighbourhood due to Israeli strikes in the southern Gaza Strip. Picture: AFP

Israel has also repeatedly accused Hamas of delaying talks and not sincerely wanting to reach a deal.

The Hamas senior official also told AFP that “under Egyptian sponsorship” the Hamas delegation met with a delegation from the Fatah movement, Hamas’s long-term rival currently in power in the occupied West Bank under the Palestinian Authority.

He said that the meeting focused on “arrangements for the internal Palestinian situation and the management of the Gaza Strip once the war ends”.

Palestinians walk on a dirt road lined with rubble from destroyed buildings in the Shujaiya neighbourhood of Gaza City. Picture: Omar Al-Qattaa / AFP

The talks aimed to agree on the shape of “an independent administrative committee to manage the strip and supervise aid, crossings and reconstruction, in agreement with all Palestinian factions”.

Jamal Obeid, a member of Fatah’s leadership in Gaza, told AFP that Egypt was making intensive efforts to stop the war.

“The first priority (is) the withdrawal of Israeli forces, the return of the displaced, the opening of the crossings, relief for our afflicted people, and reconstruction under the management and supervision of the Palestinian National Authority,” he said.

Mr Obeid said meetings in Cairo between Fatah and Hamas were crucial in order “to stop the war and put the Palestinian house in order”, and agree on what shape governance will take in Gaza after the war ends.

Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel resulted in 1208 deaths, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.

Israel’s retaliatory campaign has killed 44,466 people in Gaza, according to figures from the territory’s health ministry that the United Nations considers reliable.

NETANYAHU ACCUSES HEZBOLLAH OF ‘SERIOUS TRUCE VIOLATION’

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Hezbollah of a “serious violation” of the ceasefire in Lebanon after the militant group targeted a military position.

“Hezbollah’s firing at Har Dov is a serious violation of the ceasefire and Israel will respond forcefully. We are determined to uphold the ceasefire and respond to any violation by Hezbollah, no matter how minor or serious,” Mr Netanyahu said in a statement, referring to a disputed area on the Israel-Lebanon border known internationally as Shebaa Farms.

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz vowed a “harsh response” to a Hezbollah rocket launch targeting a military position in breach of the ceasefire in Lebanon that began last week.

“We promised to act against any violation of the ceasefire by Hezbollah - and that’s exactly what we will do. Hezbollah’s fire toward an (Israeli army) post on Mount Dov will be met with a harsh response,” the minister said on X, referring to a disputed area on the Israel-Lebanon border.

In a statement, the Iran-backed group said it had targeted an Israeli position in “the occupied hills of Kfar Shouba”, which Lebanon claims as part of its territory.

LEBANON ACCUSES ISRAEL OF ‘AGGRESSIVE, FLAGRANT’ VIOLATION

Lebanon’s parliament speaker accused Israel of violating a ceasefire, after authorities said one person was killed and another wounded in Israeli strikes on Monday, the sixth day of the truce.

“The aggressive actions carried out by Israeli occupation forces... represent a flagrant violation of the terms of the ceasefire agreement,” Nabih Berri, who helped mediate the ceasefire on behalf of ally Hezbollah, said in a statement.

Smoke billowing above the Lebanese village of Khiam during Israeli bombardment, on December 2, 2024, days into a fragile ceasefire between it and the Iran-backed Islamist group. Picture: AFP

ISRAELI STRIKES KILL, WOUND AMID CEASEFIRE

Lebanon’s health ministry said an Israeli strike killed one person in the country’s south on Monday, while the Lebanese army said an Israeli drone wounded one of its soldiers in the east.

Lebanon’s official National News Agency has repeatedly reported Israeli fire, including strikes, since a ceasefire went into effect Wednesday between Israel and Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah group, which has not announced any response.

“An Israeli enemy strike on Jdeidet Marjayoun killed one person,” a ministry statement said, while the NNA reported one person was killed in “a strike launched by an enemy drone... on a motorcycle” in the south Lebanon town.

Earlier, the Lebanese army in a statement said that “an enemy drone struck an army bulldozer at a position, injuring one soldier” in the country’s eastern Hermel region.

Last week’s fragile ceasefire ended more than a year of hostilities including two months of all-out war between Israel and Hezbollah.

While the ceasefire has largely brought fighting to a halt, Israel has launched strikes against targets it says were violating the truce.

Israel’s military said it had fired on Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon over the previous 24 hours, saying it acted to “remove threats” that violated “the ceasefire agreement conditions”.

GAZA SITUATION ‘APPALLING AND APOCALYPTIC’

The United Nations chief said the situation in war-torn Gaza was “appalling and apocalyptic”, warning conditions faced by Palestinians in the territory may amount to the “gravest international crimes”.

In remarks read out on his behalf at a Cairo conference aimed at increasing humanitarian aid, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged the international community to “build a foundation for sustainable peace in Gaza and across the Middle East”.

“Malnutrition is rampant... Famine is imminent. Meanwhile, the health system has collapsed,” he said.

Palestinians receive cooked food rations as part of a volunteer initiative in a makeshift displacement camp in Mawasi Khan Yunis in the besieged Gaza Strip. Picture: Bashar Taleb / AFP

The UN chief added that Gaza now has “the highest number of children amputees per capita anywhere in the world”, with “many losing limbs and undergoing surgeries without even anaesthesia”.

The secretary-general also criticised the severe restrictions on aid delivery, calling the current levels “grossly insufficient”.

According to the UN Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA) count, only 65 aid trucks per day had been able to enter Gaza this past month, compared to a pre-war average of 500.

UNRWA said all the attempts it has made to deliver aid into northern Gaza have either been “denied” or “impeded” between October 6, 2024 and November 25, amid fierce fighting in the area.

Guterres said “if UNRWA is forced to close, the responsibility of replacing its vital services ... would rest with Israel”.

A Palestinian boy sits over a torn UNRWA sticker in Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip on December 2, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas militants. Picture: Eyad Baba / AFP

- with AFP

Originally published as Israel war lives updates: Trump warns ‘all hell to pay’ if Gaza hostages not freed