President Donald Trump threatened Hamas that he would cancel Israel’s ceasefire on Gaza and ‘let all hell break loose’ if all of the 76 remaining hostages are not released by noon on Saturday.
The president made the comments as he was signing executive orders in the Oval Office Monday evening, after the terror group announced it was scrapping a scheduled hostage release, according to the New York Post.
But he noted that the decision to end the ceasefire – which went into effect on January 20 – ultimately lies with the Israeli government.
‘I’m speaking for myself,’ he said, according to the Times of Israel. ‘Israel can override it.’
As part of the ceasefire agreement, Hamas vowed to release 33 Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners and an end to the hostilities.
Three more hostages were set to be released on Saturday, but Hamas has claimed that Israel has not lived up to its side of the deal, citing recent Israeli shelling and gunfire in Gaza, as well as an insufficient flow of aid.
It added that it had announced the delay five days before the scheduled release to allow time for negotiations.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz, though, said any delay in the release of hostages would represent a ‘complete violation’ of the ceasefire agreement, and warned that Israel’s military would assume its ‘highest level of readiness,’ the Washington Post reports.
President Donald Trump threatened Hamas that he would cancel Israel’s ceasefire on Gaza
Hamas announced Monday it was scrapping a scheduled release of three more hostages
Under the ceasefire agreement, Hamas vowed to release 33 Israeli hostages. Ofer Kalderon was reunited with his children at Sheba hospital in Ramat Gan on February 1
At the same time, however, a group representing the families of the hostages said it has ‘urgently requested’ help from other countries to restore and implement the deal.
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum pointed to the emaciated appearances of Ohad Ben Ami, Eli Sharabi and Or Levy, who were released on Saturday.
They appeared to be in worse condition than the 18 other hostages that were previously freed under the truce. Another 76 remain.
‘Recent evidence from those released, as well as the shocking conditions of the hostages released last Saturday, leaves no room for doubt – time is of the essence,’ the group said.
The three released hostages’ appearances also apparently made Trump uncomfortable, telling reporters on Sunday he was losing patience with the ceasefire deal after seeing the footage of Ben Ami, Sharabi and Levy being led on stage.
‘They look like Holocaust survivors,’ he said of the freed hostages. ‘They were in horrible condition. They were emaciated.
‘I don’t know how much longer we can take that… at some point we’re going to lose our patience.’
This is a breaking news story and will be updated.
