President Trump on Monday suggested he might end a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas if all hostages being held in Gaza are not released by the end of the week, warning that if the deal does not go through, “all hell is going to break out.”
“As far as I’m concerned, if all of the hostages aren’t returned by Saturday at 12 o’clock — I think it’s an appropriate time — I would say cancel it and all bets are off and let hell break out,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office after signing another array of executive orders.
“And if they’re not returned — all of them, not in drips and drabs, not two, and one, and three, and four and two. Saturday at 12 o’clock. And after that, I would say all hell is going to break out,” he added.
Trump, who speculated that many of the hostages are already dead, made clear he was speaking for himself and that Israel could override him.
Asked what he meant by “all hell will break out,” Trump told reporters, “Hamas will find out what I mean.”
Israel and Hamas in mid-January agreed to a ceasefire that included the release of hostages taken by Hamas during the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks in Israel, as well as the release of more than 1,000 Palestinians being held in Israeli prisons.
While roughly half of the individuals involved in the hostage releases have been set free as part of the agreement, Hamas on Monday said it was indefinitely postponing the release of Israeli hostages and accused Israel’s government of violating the ceasefire agreement.
The move threatened to derail the ceasefire, which was already on fragile footing. In addition to the hostage releases, the ceasefire agreement calls for Israel to withdraw its forces from Gaza in the coming weeks. But Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli officials have said it will not withdraw from Gaza until Hamas is totally destroyed.
Trump may have further complicated matters in recent days as he has pushed a proposal for the United States to take over the Gaza Strip and develop it. He has said Palestinians would be relocated to Jordan, Egypt and other Arab nations while Gaza is cleared out and rebuilt, drawing pushback from allies in the region.
