Trump issues “last warning” to Hamas to release Israeli hostages

President Trump directly warned Hamas militants to immediately release all hostages held in Gaza or face death.

In a furious social media post Wednesday, Trump spoke to Hamas militants, saying his administration is “retrieving hostages from Gaza” based on a statement he made in a speech to Congress the night before.

“We will release all the hostages now, not later, and we will soon return all the corpses of those you murdered.

It was the latest example of Trump's use of threats to try to get through obstacles to desirable political purposes. Even if he warned extremist groups, officials said the US and Hamas had met in person about hostages in Qatar and avoided separate negotiations involving Hamas and Israel on the terms of the next phase of the Gaza ceasefire.

The Israeli government says about 25 hostages and more than 30 other bodies are still in Gaza. Trump, who previously directed a strong threat to prisoners, said the extremists were “twisted by illness” to keep them healthy.

“I send Israel everything I need to finish work. If you don't, as I say, none of the Hamas members are safe,” Trump wrote.

“This is your last warning,” he continued, adding, “You're dead!” if the group continues to hold hostages.

Hamas said in a post on the Telegram app that Trump's statement complicates efforts to negotiate the second phase of a ceasefire agreement with Israel and makes it easier for the Israeli government to not fulfill its contractual obligations. Israel and Hamas are stuck in the second phase. It aims to end the war and reach a comprehensive ceasefire that frees the remaining living hostages.

Hamas and other Palestinian extremist groups seized about 250 hostages in a fatal attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, causing war in Gaza. Palestinian authorities say more than 45,000 Gazaans have been killed in the conflict. Military experts say that while Israel's military campaign has weakened Hamas, the group still holds power in Gaza.

More than 100 hostages were released during the truce in late 2023, and the other 30 were returned in the second ceasefire that began in January, along with eight bodies seized in the attack. Under both ceasefire conditions, Israel released hundreds of Palestinian detainees in exchange.

Trump's post did not mention prisoner exchanges and did not give details of military aid that he said was sending to Israel. But amid a possible indication of the administration's approach, Secretary of State Marco Rubio called “emergency authorities” this week to bypass Congress and send $4 billion in weapons to Israel. It was the second time in a month that the administration had skirted the process of approving Congress to send arms to the country.