On Wednesday, Trump issued a threat to Hamas demanding the immediate release of all captives or “THERE WILL BE HELL TO PAY LATER!”
Palestinian Resistance movement Hamas said the threats made by US President Donald Trump demanding the immediate release of all captives held in Gaza are complicating ceasefire efforts and encouraging Israel to backtrack on the agreement.
“These threats complicate matters regarding the ceasefire agreement and encourage the occupation government (Israel) to refrain from implementing its terms,” Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem told the Anadolu news agency on Thursday.
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Qassem emphasized that there is a signed ceasefire agreement with Washington as one of its mediators which includes the release of all Israeli captives in Gaza over its three stages.
“Hamas implemented all its obligations under phase one (of the agreement), but Israel is avoiding entering phase two,” he stressed.
“The US administration is required to pressure the occupation to enter negotiations for the second phase, as stipulated in the ceasefire agreement,” Qassem stated.
‘Hell to Pay’ – Trump
On Wednesday, Trump issued a threat to Hamas demanding the immediate release of all captives or “THERE WILL BE HELL TO PAY LATER!”
“Release all of the Hostages now, not later, and immediately return all of the dead bodies of the people you murdered, or it is OVER for you,” he said in a post on his Truth Social platform as well as X.
“‘Shalom Hamas’ means Hello and Goodbye – You can choose. Release all of the Hostages now, not later, and immediately return all of the dead bodies of the people you murdered, or it is OVER for you. Only sick and twisted people keep bodies, and you are sick and twisted! I am… pic.twitter.com/88EjVAyWAe
— President Donald J. Trump (@POTUS) March 5, 2025
“Only sick and twisted people keep bodies, and you are sick and twisted! I am sending Israel everything it needs to finish the job, not a single Hamas member will be safe if you don’t do as I say,” he continued.
Trump, who met with released Israeli captives at the White House on Wednesday, further warned Hamas that “This is your last warning! For the leadership, now is the time to leave Gaza, while you still have a chance.”
‘Hell to Pay Later’
“Also, to the People of Gaza: A beautiful Future awaits, but not if you hold Hostages. If you do, you are DEAD! Make a SMART decision. RELEASE THE HOSTAGES NOW, OR THERE WILL BE HELL TO PAY LATER!” the US president added.
The Gaza ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement came into effect on January 21. On Sunday Israel decided to halt aid shipments hours after phase one of the agreement expired.
Axios: A delegation of freed Israeli captives met with Donald Trump at the White House. pic.twitter.com/1CBbAxb1kB
— The Palestine Chronicle (@PalestineChron) March 5, 2025
The first six-week phase of the agreement officially ended at midnight on Saturday.
Israel, however, has not agreed to move forward to phase two of the deal to permanently end the war in Gaza, which has killed over 48,000 people, mostly women and children, and left the enclave in ruins.
Call from Witkoff
Trump’s special envoy for the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, called on Israel on Wednesday to uphold a ceasefire until his visit there and the region.
Israel’s Yediot Ahronot daily, cited by the Anadolu news agency said that Witkoff’s visit has been postponed several times for various reasons.
Your are right, Mr. President. This is SICK. And we Americans pay for it! Time to stop sending BILLIONS to Israel which does nothing but start wars, occupy other people’s land and get America into trouble. 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/afFwZ129Lf
— Ali Abunimah (@AliAbunimah) March 5, 2025
The report said that Witkoff called for the preservation of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas until his arrival and that the visit is expected to take place next week.
“Witkoff stressed that Israel must maintain the ceasefire in Gaza until he arrives in the region—even if Hamas refuses to release the hostages,” it reportedly added.
Problem of ‘Occupation’
On Thursday, the head of Gaza’s Government Media Office, Selame Maruf, said Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories has always been the problem, not Hamas.
“Our people or the resistance in Gaza have never been the problem. The problem has always been the occupation (Israel),” Maruf said in a statement on X, according to Anadolu.
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He went on to criticize Trump’s remarks, arguing that such statements “give absolute support and encouragement to the war criminal (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu, allowing him the power and capability to continue committing crimes against 2.4 million people.”
“What is happening today in the West Bank and Jerusalem is the best evidence of this,” he added.
In November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
(Anadolu, PC)
What’s the difference? the people in Gaza have been through hell for decades. Empty threats mean nothing. Besides, these freedom fighters are fearless, and clearly they are better skilled, better tactically, just better. My corrupt US government has been putting Palestinians and Gazans through hell consistently, for what? And, if any hostages died, it was ” Israel ” because of the relentless airstrikes and dronestrikes with US made weaponry. Trump is only doing this because he was paid off. If Hamas paid him he’d be saying this to
” Israel ” .
Absolutely no reason is there to release any more Israeli hostages (whether alive, or killed by U.S.-supplied bombs that were fired from Israel’s U.S.-supplied fighter jets), when Israel has no intention whatsoever of advancing into the second stage of this ceasefire agreement (which it happened to sign), and therefore rejects any kind of a permanent ceasefire.
Even in terms of the first stage of this ceasefire, lasting 42 days, Israel broke it in every way possible, committing at least 270 ceasefire violations. So much of the humanitarian aid, that was supposed to enter Gaza within this first stage, was not allowed by Israel to enter in.
During that period of time, the genocidal Zionist occupation army also massacred 116 Palestinian civilians inside Gaza, and injured 490 others. What kind of a ceasefire is that supposed to be?
By threatening the Palestinian civilians of Gaza with death, if the remaining Israeli hostages are not immediately released, Donald Trump, who’s supposed to be President of the United States, is really making himself look like an extremely sick genocidal Zionist. It’s certainly not the American flag he’s representing; instead, it’s the Israeli Zionist flag of Satan, that he represents.