Trump Threatens to End Gaza Ceasefire: Hostages Must Be Freed by Saturday

Donald Trump said on Monday that the precarious ceasefire between Israel and Hamas would need to be canceled if Hamas didn’t release its remaining hostages in Gaza before Saturday at noon. He also stated that this decision was up to Israel.

Trump responded to Hamas’s announcement that it would delay the release of more hostages from the Gaza Strip after Israel was accused of violating a three-week ceasefire. After the Saturday release of three visibly malnourished hostages, the U.S. President said it was now time for Israel to demand that all hostages be released by noon Saturday or else the war would restart.

“If they’re not here, all hell is going to break out,” Trump said. He added of the ceasefire, “Cancel it, and all bets are off.”

Trump stated that the final decision was up to Israel and said, “I speak for myself, Israel can override the decision.” But when asked if he would support a U.S. response to Hamas if hostages were not released, Trump replied, “Hamas is going to find out what I’m talking about.”

These comments were made after Trump stated in an interview on Fox News Channel, that Palestinians living in Gaza will not be allowed to return to their homes under his plan to “own” the war-torn region. This seemed to contradict other officials within his administration who had argued Trump only wanted to temporarily relocate its residents.

In an interview aired Monday by Fox News’ Bretbaier, Trump said, “No, they would not” when asked whether Palestinians living in Gaza have the right to return. Trump has been increasing pressure on Arab countries, especially U.S. ally Jordan and Egypt, to accept Palestinians from Gaza who claim that the territory is part of their future homeland.

“We’ll build safe communities, a little bit away from where they are, where all of this danger is,” Trump said. “In the meantime, I would own this. Think of it as a real estate development for the future. It would be a beautiful piece of land. No big money spent.”

Arab nations have strongly criticized Trump’s proposal. Trump will host Jordan’s King Abdullah at the White House next Tuesday. Egypt and Jordan, in addition to their concerns over the potential for a two-state resolution to the Israel-Palestinian Conflict to be compromised, have also privately expressed concerns about the security of welcoming large numbers of refugees to their countries.

Trump responded to reporters when asked about how he would convince Abdullah of the need for Palestinian refugees, saying, “I think he will, and other countries will also take.” They are good people.”

He also threatened to withhold U.S. aid to Jordan and Egypt in the billions if they didn’t agree to his plan.

Trump replied, “Yeah. Maybe. Sure, why not?” If they didn’t, then I could conceivably stop aid.

Trump’s remarks could jeopardize the fragile ceasefire that has been established between Israel and Hamas after 15 months of conflict in Gaza. The existing framework for negotiation calls for massive humanitarian assistance and reconstruction for Gazan civilians.

After Trump’s first comments last week, White House Press Secretary Karoline Rubio and Secretary of State Marco Rubio politely reiterated that Trump wanted Palestinians to be relocated “temporarily”, and for an “interim” period, to remove debris, dispose of unexploded ordnance, and allow for reconstruction.

Trump said Monday, when asked about the conditions of the remaining hostages that he was concerned that Hamas released them in the best possible condition. He also stated that many of those scheduled to be released are already gravely ill. He said that based on his observations over the last two days, he did not expect them to live long.

In a video released on Saturday after Hamas had freed the newest hostages, Rachel and Jon GoldbergPolin, parents of the slain American Hersh GoldbergPolin called on Trump and the negotiating team to think “bigger and faster” to press for the release of all of the remaining hostages by the end of the week.

“All 76 hostages out this week,” they said. “End of war. Who benefits from dragging it out for so long? Not the people of this region. Let’s get it done right now.”

Trump didn’t exclude the possibility of sending U.S. forces to Gaza to secure the area, but he also insisted that no U.S. money would be used to rebuild the region. This raised fundamental questions about his plan.

Egypt reiterated on Monday its opposition to the transfer of Palestinians from the territories they hold in Gaza and the occupied West Bank. It warned that such proposals would threaten the “foundations of people” throughout the Middle East.

The Egyptian Foreign Ministry stated that the foundation for “a comprehensive and just peace” is the creation of an independent Palestinian State with East Jerusalem as its capital.

In the statement, Egypt said it rejects any violation of the Palestinian’s “right to self-determination… and independence” and that “it upholds the rights of return of Palestinian refugees forced to leave their homeland.” This was a reference made to hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who were forced from their homes during the 1948 conflict in what is today Israel.

Hamas’ senior official called Trump’s recent remarks about U.S. ownership in Gaza “absurd”.

Izzat al Rishq, Hamas member and member of the Hamas political bureau stated that these comments “reflect an ignorance of Palestine and the region.”

Hamas released a statement early on Monday stating that Trump’s approach to the Palestinian cause would fail.

He said: “Treating the Palestinian cause as if it were a real estate deal is a recipe for failure.” “Our Palestinians will stop any transfer or deportation plan.”