President-elect Donald Trump warned that “things will get very bad in the Middle East” if Hamas does not release the remaining Israeli hostages before he takes office.
Hamas kidnapped more than 250 people in a raid in Israel last October. Although 105 were released in a brief ceasefire a month later and several others were rescued this year, about 100 remain in Gaza.
“Everyone is talking about the hostages being held in a brutal, inhumane and against the will of the entire world in the Middle East,” Trump said on the social network Truth Social on December 2.
Mr. Trump continued to share: “If the hostages are not released by January 20, 2025 - the day I proudly assume the office of President of the United States, there will be serious consequences in the Middle East and for those who are responsible for these atrocities against humanity.”
“Those responsible will be punished more severely than anything ever done in the long and glorious history of the United States,” he concluded.
According to multiple sources, Mr. Trump is said to have contacted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to express his desire to end the war with Hamas before his inauguration. Although he has not confirmed it, Mr. Trump has repeatedly publicly called on Israel to “finish the war” this year.
On November 29, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham commented that Mr. Trump is more determined to rescue hostages and end the conflict than at any time before.
Mr. Graham, a politician known for his hard-line foreign policy stance, explained that the purpose of reaching a ceasefire in Gaza was to focus on other important issues, including normalizing relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia as well as building a regional alliance to deal with Iran.
