Hamas Hits Back at Trump’s ‘Hell to Pay’ Threat
A senior official of the Palestinian Hamas movement has shared with Newsweek the group’s response to a stark warning issued by President-elect Donald Trump over the fate of hostages held in Gaza after nearly 15 months of war with Israel.
Around 100 people, including seven U.S. citizens, remain captive in Gaza after Hamas and other Palestinian factions conducted an unprecedented surprise attack against Israel last October, killing more than 1,100 people and abducting around 250 others, according to Israel officials.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has recorded up to 380 deaths among its own ranks as the conflict also expanded to include a direct conflict with the Hezbollah movement in Lebanon, where health officials place the death toll at nearly 3,800.
While a fragile ceasefire was reached last week in Lebanon, truce talks backed by President Joe Biden’s administration in Gaza have repeatedly unraveled. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to continue the war until all hostages were returned, Hamas was defeated and Gaza rendered incapable of posing a future threat to Israel.
But Trump argued that “it’s all talk, and no action” when it comes to the hostage issue in a post published Monday on his Truth account. If the hostages were not released prior to his inauguration on January 20, he warned “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,” Trump wrote. “RELEASE THE HOSTAGES NOW!”
In response, Hamas spokesperson and Political Bureau member Basem Naim argued that it was Netanyahu, not the Palestinian group that was blocking progress toward an agreement.
“Since the beginning of this genocide, Hamas has publicly announced and been active in seeking a permanent ceasefire to end the Israeli aggression against our people; a deal which would have included a full prisoners’ exchange,” Naim said in a statement shared with Newsweek.
“However, Netanyahu has sabotaged all these attempts,” he added. “At many times, we were extremely close to signing on a deal, but due to his savage actions and decisions, these deals broke down.”
As such, he said that “Hamas understands that Trump’s message is actually directed first towards Netanyahu and his government,” which “need to end their evil game by using negotiations as a cover for their personal political ideological interests.”
Naim said that Hamas remained “committed to immediately implementing the Security Council Resolution 2735, and the deal struck on July 2, 2024.”
The resolution, based on a three-phase proposal announced by Biden in late May, won the rare approval of the U.N. Security Council in June. The following month, both Hamas and Israel accepted the agreement but offered conflicting interpretations over what the deal actually contained.
“We are looking forward to the day in which we see an end of this genocide against our people, their free return back to their homes all over the Gaza Strip, and prisoners from both sides freed and enjoying living amongst their families again,” Naim said.
“Our people are eager to secure a better future for their children, full of hope, dignity and prosperity,” he added.
Newsweek has reached out to the Trump transition team for comment.
Israeli officials have repeatedly denied that their side was responsible for the lack of progress in the most recent rounds of talks held in the Qatari capital of Doha. The Biden administration has cast blame on both sides, though U.S. officials have more recently portrayed Hamas as the main party responsible for the deadlock.
During his previous time in office, Trump established a close relationship with Netanyahu. The Republican leader shifted U.S. policy positions to align with those of Israel on several key issues, recognizing Israeli control over disputed East Jerusalem and Golan Heights, greenlighting Israeli settlements on Palestinian territory and backing a “deal of the century” peace plan that was widely rejected by Palestinians and Arab partners as one-sided.
But while Trump has frequently expressed criticism over Biden’s handling of the conflict, he has also hit out at Netanyahu several teams over the course of the war. Trump has repeatedly urged the Israeli premier to quickly “finish the job” against Hamas and has vowed to “stop wars” while in office.
Netanyahu reacted positively to Trump’s latest ultimatum at the start of a meeting with his cabinet on Tuesday.
“I want to thank President Trump for his strong statement yesterday about the need for Hamas to release the hostages, the responsibility of Hamas, and this adds another force to our continued effort to release all the hostages,” Netanyahu said. “Thank you, President Trump.”
The U.S. has supported its ally, Israel, throughout the conflict with military assistance. The Biden administration has at the same time called on Netanyahu to do more to ensure the safety of civilians and the flow of humanitarian in Gaza, where both the Israeli premier and Hamas leadership have been charged by the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes.
According to a readout of his call with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday “emphasized the importance of ending the war in Gaza, securing the release of hostages, and establishing lasting peace and security for Israelis and Palestinians alike.”
Source » msn
