United States President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday evening reiterated his warning to the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas to release hostages still held in the Gaza Strip.
At a New Year’s Eve gala at his Mar-a-Lago, Florida, residence, a CNN reporter asked Trump if he had recently spoken with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about a possible “truce in exchange for the release of hostages” agreement, whose talks seem to have stalled.
“We’ll see what happens,” Trump responded, before adding: “I’ll put it this way: They better let the hostages back quickly. »
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Trump previously made a similar threat at the Republican National Convention in July and repeated it last month, saying “there will be a TERRIBLE price to pay in the Middle East, and for those responsible who carried out these atrocities against humanity” if the hostages were not released before he took office.
Trump’s renewed threat comes as Israeli and US officials have said Israel and Hamas are unlikely to reach a hostage deal before Trump returns to power, with the latest round of talks having once more seemed to get bogged down.
Israeli officials have accused Hamas of forgoing a softening of its position that might have led to a deal, and of returning to a position that hinders progress. The Palestinian terrorist group accuses Israel of making new demands during the negotiations and delaying them.
Protesters dressed as US President-elect Donald Trump (right) and Benjamin Netanyahu (left) perform during an anti-government demonstration demanding the release of hostages held in the Gaza Strip by Hamas, in Tel Aviv, December 21, 2024. (Credit: Ohad Zwigenberg/AP)
Arab mediators told the Wall Street Journal that the talks were at an impasse as both sides reiterated demands unacceptable to the other side.
-According to the article, Israel insisted that only living hostages be released in the first phase of a potential deal, while Hamas demanded that the first 30 hostages returned include remains. Hamas also returned to its demand that the agreement should lead to a definitive end to the fighting, to which Israel refuses to commit.
Mediators said a deal was unlikely to be reached before the end of U.S. President Joe Biden’s term this month. However, they indicated to Wall Street Journal that they expected the parties to resume negotiations once Trump took office.
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