Donald Trump has threatened to ‘let all hell break out’ if Hamas does not return all the remaining Israeli hostages on Saturday.
Trump told reporters late on Monday night that while the decision ultimately rests on Israel’s shoulders, ‘as far as I’m concerned, if all of the hostages aren’t returned by Saturday 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.’
Now, the terror group has astonishingly lashed out at Donald Trump’s threat.
Sami Abu Zuhri, a senior spokesperson for the terror group known for its tight stranglehold over the Gaza Strip, boldly claimed that Trump’s comments did nothing but make the negotiation for the end of the war harder.
‘The language of threats has no value and further complicates matters’, Zuhri remarked.
He added that Trump needed to ‘remember that there is an agreement that must be respected by both parties and this is the only way to return the prisoners.’
As part of the ceasefire agreement, Hamas promised to release 33 Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners and an end to the hostilities.
Three of those hostages were set to be released on Saturday, but Hamas has claimed that Israel has not lived up to its side of the deal, citing recent Israeli shelling and gunfire in Gaza, as well as an insufficient flow of aid.
It added that it had announced the delay five days before the scheduled release to allow time for negotiations.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz, however, said any delay in the release of hostages would represent a ‘complete violation’ of the ceasefire agreement, and warned that Israel’s military would assume its ‘highest level of readiness,’ the Washington Post reports.
