Hamas said on Thursday that U.S. President Donald Trump’s repeated threats against Palestinians constituted support for Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to back out of the Gaza ceasefire and intensify the siege of Gazans.
Trump demanded in a social media post on Wednesday that Hamas “release all of the hostages now, not later,” including the remains of dead hostages, “or it is OVER for you”.
His threats came on the day there was news that a Trump envoy has held secret talks with Hamas, signaling a departure from a decades-old U.S. policy of not negotiating with the Islamist Palestinian faction deemed a terrorist organisation by Washington.
“Trump’s repeated threats against our people represent support to Netanyahu to evade the agreement and tightens the siege and starvation against our people,” Hamas spokesperson Abdel-Latif Al-Qanoua said in a text message to Reuters.
“The best track to release the remaining Israeli prisoners is by… going into the second phase and compelling it (Israel) to adhere to the agreement signed under the sponsorship of mediators,” he said.
The Gaza ceasefire deal that took effect in January calls for the remaining hostages to be freed in a second phase, during which final plans would be negotiated for an end to the war.
The first phase of the ceasefire ended on Saturday, and Israel has since imposed a total blockade on all goods entering Gaza, demanding that Hamas release remaining hostages without beginning the negotiations to end the war.
Palestinians say the blockade could lead to starvation among the 2.3 million people living in Gaza’s ruins.
Trump made his new threats after a White House meeting on Wednesday with a group of hostages who had been released in the first phase of the ceasefire deal.
“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 said in his social media post. “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!”
Fighting in Gaza has been halted since January 19 and Hamas has released 33 Israeli hostages and five Thais for some 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees. Israeli authorities believe fewer than half of the remaining 59 hostages are still alive.
Showing the fragility of the ceasefire, Palestinian health officials said an Israeli airstrike killed one man in eastern Gaza City on Thursday.
The Israeli military said several suspects were identified planting a bomb in the ground near where the forces operated and struck them to remove the threat. Reuters
