After meeting with former Israeli hostages Wednesday, President Donald Trump issued a new ultimatum to Hamas: Release every prisoner still being held in Gaza or “it is OVER for you.”
“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,” Trump posted on social media.
Last month Trump called on Hamas to release the hostages by Feb. 15 or “all hell is going to breakout.” That deadline came and went. This time, Trump is describing his ultimatum as the “last warning!”
“To the People of Gaza: A beautiful Future awaits, but not if you hold Hostages. If you do, you are DEAD!” Trump said in a post on his social media site Truth Social.
Trump issued his ultimatum hours after meeting with eight hostages recently released from Gaza under the latest cease-fire deal: Iair Horn, Omer Shem Tov, Eli Sharabi, Keith Siegel, Aviva Siegel, Naama Levy, Doron Steinbrecher and Noa Argamani, according to a White House statement.
The statement said Trump “listened intently to their heartbreaking stories. The hostages thanked President Trump for his steadfast efforts to bring all of the hostages home.”
Also Wednesday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed that the administration had entered into direct discussions with Hamas officials, potentially bypassing Israel in its efforts to secure the release of the remaining American hostages.
Leavitt said Israel was consulted but did not say whether that happened before or after talks that she described as part of Trump’s “good faith effort to do what’s right for the American people.”
Soon after his meeting with the former hostages, Trump posted his warning, beginning with, “’Shalom Hamas’ means Hello and Goodbye – You can choose.”
“I have just met with your former hostages whose lives you have destroyed,” Trump added. “This is your last warning! For the leadership, now is the time to leave Gaza, while you still have a chance.”
Israel went to war with Hamas after the Palestinian group attacked the country on Oct. 7, 2023, killing about 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages.
Since then, at least 40,000 Palestinians have been killed and millions more have been displaced by Israeli bombing, according to the Hamas-run Ministry of Health. The numbers of casualties have been disputed by Israel, which along with the United States and other nations has designated Hamas a terrorist organization.
The Trump Administration has already approved nearly $12 billion in major foreign military sales to Israel, according to the State Department’s website.
Trump also repealed a Biden-era memorandum which had imposed “baseless and politicized conditions on military assistance to Israel at a time when our close ally was fighting a war of survival on multiple fronts against Iran and terror proxies,” the State Department website says.
Gaza as ‘the Riviera of the Middle East’?
Trump’s support for the sustained Israeli war effort has created a backlash, especially from comments in early February that in which he said he hopes to transform the rubble of Gaza into “the Riviera of the Middle East.”
Standing next to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at a joint news conference on Feb. 4, In a joint news conference, Trump said he wants the U.S. to take ownership of the Gaza Strip and redevelop it after Palestinians are resettled elsewhere.
Trump also proposed turning the partially destroyed enclave into an “international, unbelievable place” filled with “the world’s people.”
Those comments came less than a month after Israel and Hamas reached a deal to pause the 15-month war in exchange for the release of some Israeli hostages still held in Gaza and some hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in Israel. That deal proposed a reconstruction phase of up to five years in the war-torn enclave.
On Feb. 25, Trump posted on social media an apparently AI-generated video that includes depictions of him and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sunbathing poolside in Gaza. It also contained scenes of destruction in Gaza transformed into a gilded tourist mecca called “TRUMP GAZA.”
That prompted sharp rebukes from Arabs and Muslims in the United States and abroad.
Hamas still is holding 59 hostages in Gaza, many of whom are believed to be dead. The two sides reached a truce six weeks ago, but it has been strained in recent days. The deal called for the phased release of hostages from Gaza and Palestinian prisoners being held in Israel.
During the first phase of the ceasefire Hamas released 33 hostages and Israel released roughly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners. The two sides are now in a standoff over how to proceed. Israel blocked aid trucks from entering Gaza on Sunday.
