President-elect Donald Trump starkly warned Hamas to release the remaining hostages before Inauguration Day or else “all hell will break out,” without elaborating on a specific response.
Hamas is currently believed to have 101 hostages, including seven Americans, at least three of whom are thought to be dead, and Trump has long threatened repercussions for the terror group if it fails to release them.
“It will not be good for Hamas, and it will not be good, frankly, for anyone,” Trump, 78, warned during a press conference in Mar-a-Lago Tuesday.
“All hell will break out. I don’t have to say anymore, but that’s what it is.”
Members of Trump’s incoming administration and the outgoing Biden team have scrambled to iron out a deal to bring home those seven Americans.
Steve Witkoff, Trump’s longtime friend and pick for special envoy to the Middle East, announced during the press conference that some progress has been made to release the remaining hostages.
“I believe we’ve been on the verge of it. I don’t want to discuss sort of what’s delayed it,” Witkoff told reporters about the deliberations over the hostages.
Witkoff is poised to join negotiations over a hostage deal in Doha, Qatar on Wednesday. Trump hailed his special envoy to the Middle East pick as a “great negotiator” and repeated the vague threats against Hamas.
“I don’t want to hurt the negotiation. If the deal isn’t done before I take office, which will be two weeks, all hell will break out in the Middle East,” Trump ominously reiterated.
The incoming president also recounted his discussions with families whose loved ones remain in Hamas’ captivity as well as the terror group’s savagery.
Multiple attempts at reaching a deal have previously faltered. Secretary of State Antony Blinken underscored Monday that the administration is eager to get the deal done within the next two weeks.
“What I can tell you is this: We very much want to bring this over the finish line in the next two weeks, the time that we have remaining. And we will work every minute of every day of those two weeks to try to get that to happen,” Blinken said Monday during his trip to South Korea.
Recently, Blinken conceded that progressive pressure against Israel has complicated efforts to free the hostages.
“Every time we put pressure on Israel, Hamas backed off from the hostage deal,” Blinken said during a recent podcast interview with the New York Times.
Trump has stacked his incoming administration with staunch supporters of Israel, including US Ambassador to the United Nations designee Elise Stefanik and US Ambassador to Israel designee Mike Huckabee.
The soon-to-be 47th president has repeatedly issued similar threats against Hamas.
“If those hostages aren’t released by the time I get to office, there will be hell to pay,” Trump told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt on Monday.
In the past, Trump has also reflected fondly on Iran’s decision to release dozens of American hostages on the day of former President Ronald Reagan’s inauguration in January 1981.
Trump is seemingly hoping to repeat history when he gets sworn into office as president on Jan. 20.
