If hostages are not released: Trump's ultimatum to Hamas

US President-elect Donald Trump has issued an ultimatum to terrorist group Hamas that the hostages taken by it be released from Gaza before his inauguration in January, or there will be “hell to pay” in the Middle East for those responsible.

Writing on Truth Social, and without naming any militant group, Trump said in his post: “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. 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!”

About 250 hostages were captured in the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, and about 100 of them remain in Gaza, with about a third believed to be dead, according to the Israeli authorities.

The Biden administration has been working since last year with Israel and international mediators, including Qatar and Egypt, on a cease-fire deal that would include the release of the hostages.

It was not clear what tactic Trump might take that has not already been taken already by Israel, which has killed many of Hamas's leaders and thousands of its fighters while leveling much of Gaza.

Trump said in his post on Monday, “It's all talk and no action” when it comes to the hostages, and his statement suggesting that he could use the power of his office to punish those who took the captives is the first sign of how aggressively Trump might handle Middle East policy when he resumes office.

There was one brief pause in the fighting, more than a year ago, that led to the release of about 105 hostages. And efforts to broker a cease-fire deal appeared to stall last month after mediators met in Egypt.

Some hostages have also been rescued in Israeli military operations. But there have been protests and widespread frustration in Israel over the lack of a deal to secure their freedom, with critics of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel saying that he has failed to prioritise their release over his political survival.

This is not the first time that Trump has addressed the conflict in Gaza and the fate of the remaining hostages.

He has told Netanyahu that he wants the war in the enclave to end before he returns to the White House. And at the Republican National Convention in July, he said that he wanted the hostages returned and that captors “will be paying a very big price”.

His latest warning came after Hamas released a propaganda video showing the American-Israeli hostage Edan Alexander, 20, pleading with Trump to secure his release.