'All hell is going to break out': Trump issues Gaza ceasefire ultimatum to Hamas

Donald Trump says the Gaza ceasefire should be cancelled if all remaining Israeli hostages are not returned by noon on Saturday – as he warned Hamas that “all hell is going to break out”.

The US president’s intervention came hours after Hamas has said it will delay the release of more hostages and accused Israel of violating their ceasefire deal.

While signing a series of new executive orders, Mr Trump said he feared many Israeli hostages scheduled for release are already dead.

Referring to his Saturday deadline for the release of hostages, Mr Trump said: “If they’re not here, all hell is going to break out.”

He acknowledged that a decision to end the ceasefire was up to Israel, adding: “I’m speaking for myself. Israel can override it.”

Hours earlier, Mr Trump said Palestinians would not have the right to return under his plan for US “ownership” of Gaza – contradicting officials in his administration who said they would be relocated temporarily.

Jordan has rejected pleas from Mr Trump to agree to resettle Palestinians from Gaza – and the Jordanian King Abdullah is set to meet the US president for talks in the White House on Tuesday.

Trump latest: ‘Palestinians will have no right to Gaza return’

Hamas halts release of hostages

Earlier on Monday, Hamas claimed ceasefire violations had included “delaying the return of the displaced to the northern Gaza Strip, and targeting them with shelling and gunfire”.

Spokesman Abu Obeida said Hamas remained committed if Israel kept to the terms, but that the 15 February handover was postponed “until the occupation commits to and compensates for the past weeks”.

Egyptian security sources told Reuters that mediators now fear the deal will break down.

They said Hamas believes Israel isn’t serious about the ceasefire – which began on 19 January.

The last hostage release took place at the weekend and saw three Israeli men set free. Five Thai citizens released last month were also finally reunited with their families in Bangkok.

They were among about 250 people taken during the 7 October 2023 attack, when 1,200 people were murdered.

Five swaps have taken place so far, with 21 hostages and more than 730 Palestinian prisoners released.

Saturday’s exchange was due to involve three more Israelis and hundreds of Palestinians.

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Defence minister Israel Katz said any delay in releasing hostages would be “a complete violation” and he had instructed troops to be on highest alert.

The Hostages and Missing Family Forum called on mediating countries to restore the deal, saying “time is of the essence” and citing “the shocking conditions of the hostages released last Saturday”.

Trump keeps the world on edge with Hamas ultimatum

President Trump has used this language before.

In the days before he became president, he said that if the hostages held by Hamas were not released by his inauguration on 20 January, “all hell will break out in the Middle East”.

They were not all released and many remain in captivity. But he managed to broker a ceasefire with the help of officials from the outgoing Biden administration.

And so his threat dissolved in the jubilation of a pause in fighting and a transfer of some hostages in exchange for Palestinians being held in Israeli prisons.

But the threat is back. The hard deadline of Saturday seems to be an attempt to short circuit the faltering three-phase ceasefire plan.

It’s not at all clear what the consequence would be if Hamas does not comply.

The difference this time seems to be that the onus is wholly on Hamas. Before the inauguration Israel too was being pushed to do its part in ensuring the ceasefire happened.

Hamas is being forced by President Trump to capitulate totally; release all the prisoners or else. And Israel now seems wholly emboldened by Mr Trump to do what it needs to do.

Hamas has until Saturday to propose a counteroffer – “ok, we’ll release them all in exchange for x, y, or z”.

Let’s see how they respond, or if they respond. Maybe they can harness Mr Trump’s “Palestinians must all leave Gaza” demand.

Could they carve out a concession from that?

One key unknown is the extent to which Hamas thinks the president is bluffing. Whether or not he is a bluffer, they must know he is transactional. But with them?

All eyes will be on the White House over the hours ahead as King Abdullah of Jordan visits.

There are so many moving parts, so many unknowns, so much stark language and at the centre of it all, a president who is keeping the world on edge. He’d have it no other way.

As part of the ceasefire deal, Israeli forces pulled back from a key passage through Gaza on Sunday.

The four-mile-long Netzarim corridor separates northern Gaza from the south, and hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians have now crossed back over.

However, Israel pushed back the withdrawal by a few days in protest at the chaotic release of hostages Arbel Yehud and Gadi Moses.

This may be what Hamas is referencing what it talks of “delaying the return of the displaced”.

There have also been examples of Israeli troops shooting at or near Palestinians approaching Israeli forces after being warned to stay back.

So far, little progress has been made on an extension to the first six-week phase of the ceasefire.

A delegation from Israel has arrived in Qatar for further talks amid concern the deal might collapse before all remaining hostages are freed.

Israel has previously said it will not agree to a complete withdrawal from Gaza until Hamas’s military and political capabilities are eliminated.

Hamas has countered that it will not hand over the final hostages until Israel removes all its troops from Gaza.

This article was originally published by Sky.com. Read the original article here.

Trump keeps the world on edge with Hamas ultimatum

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