US President-elect Donald Trump gestures as he delivers remarks at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida on January 7, 2025.
Carlos Barria Reuters
President-him Donald Trump warned on Tuesday that “all hell will break loose in the Middle East” if Hamas does not release the hostages it is holding in Gaza by the time it is inaugurated on January 20.
“And it’s not going to be good for Hamas and it’s not going to be good frankly for anybody,” Trump said at a news conference at his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida.
“We want to get those hostages back for Israel and for us,” Trump said.
“You know, we have people who are being held hostage,” he said. . it’s going to explode.”
Trump did not specify what action he would take if the hostages were not released.
Nearly 100 hostages are believed to remain in captivity in Gaza, with some of these people presumed dead.
Hamas on Monday released a list with the names of 34 hostages the group said it is willing to release in the first stage of a possible ceasefire deal with Israel.
Trump delivered his warning as Steve Witkoff, his designated Middle East envoy, told reporters that there had been “a lot of progress” in negotiations in Doha, Qatar, to win the release of the hostages captured during the October 7 terrorist group. , 2023, invasion of Israel.
“I think we’ve been on it,” Witkoff said, after Trump saw him in the back of the room and called him to the podium to speak.
Witkoff said he expected to return to Doha on Tuesday night or Wednesday morning.
It was unclear what role Witkoff played in any discussion, since Trump does not take office for another two weeks, and Witkoff is not formally a representative of the US government.
Earlier Tuesday, Hamas said it would stand by its demand that Israel completely end military operations against Gaza as part of any deal to free the hostages.
Israel, in turn, says the war will continue until the hostages are released and Hamas is dismantled, according to Reuters news service.
“I don’t want to say too much” about the status of the talks in Doha, Witkoff said.
But, he added, “I’m really hoping that by the inauguration we’ll have some really good things to announce on behalf of the president.”
He credited Trump’s “reputation, the things he said” with “driving the negotiations.”
“I think they heard it loud and clear, and to be done by the inauguration,” Witkoff said.
“Hopefully everything will work out and we will save some lives,” he added.
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2025-01-07 21:06:00
