Trump Warns Hamas Of “Hell To Pay” If Hostages Aren’t Freed Before Inauguration

It’s no secret that President-elect Donald Trump is firmly in support of Israel, despite that after a year of Israeli war in Gaza the civilian death toll is in the multiple tens of thousands. Trump has stacked key national security positions with pro-Israel hawks. 

This is why it comes as no surprise that he’s already talking tough, threatening escalation if Hamas and Palestinian militants in Gaza don’t immediately free the remaining Israeli hostages. “Everybody is talking about the hostages who are being held so violently, inhumanely, and against the will of the entire World, in the Middle East – But it’s all talk, and no action!” Trump began a post on his Truth Social.

He is warning that there will be “hell to pay” if Hamas doesn’t release the captives. “Please let this TRUTH serve to represent that if the hostages are not released prior to January 20, 2025, the date that I proudly assume Office as President of the United States, there will be ALL HELL TO PAY in the Middle East, and for those in charge who perpetrated these atrocities against Humanity,” Trump continued in the statement.

He then warned in the stern statement [emphasis ZH]:

Those responsible will be hit harder than anybody has been hit in the long and storied History of the United States of America. RELEASE THE HOSTAGES NOW!

Given broad swathes of Gaza have already been pulverized into dust, it’s hard to see how the Strip could be hit any harder, also given US-supplied bunker buster bombs have been used against dense urban areas.

A total of 97 hostages remain unaccounted for, though many have been feared dead after over a year of fighting in the Strip. Israel has said that 251 Israelis and foreigners were taken on October 7, 2023.

Recent analysis in The Washington Post tallied that 117 hostages have been freed or rescued, with the bulk of this figure having come as a result of the November 2023 short-lived truce deal.

Israel’s military and intelligence believes that a total of 63 hostages remain alive. They have been in captivity for over 420 days, amid worsening conditions. Israel says that 71 have been confirmed killed, but without revealing the precise circumstances of their deaths.

“The hostage whose death was most recently confirmed by Israel is Idan Shtivi,” Washington Post writes. “There are 34 hostages reported killed whose bodies have not been recovered and remain in Gaza.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will surely take this new statement as a mandate from Trump to keep fighting. Efforts at achieving a new truce completely fell apart within the last weeks, and Israel appears bent on pursuing a military solution.

Given the situation is now essentially a ‘fight to the death’ scenario, Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad are unlikely to care much about Trump’s threat. The terror groups likely see the remnant hostages as the only remaining leverage they have left.