President-elect Donald Trump warned on Tuesday that if Palestinian Hamas does not release the remaining hostages held in the Gaza Strip by his inauguration on January 20, “hell will break loose” in the Middle East. TASR informs about it according to a CNN report.
“It’s not going to be good for Hamas and, frankly, it won’t be good for anyone. All hell breaks loose. I don’t have to say more, but that’s the way it is,” said Trump at the press conference. He added that k the attack by Palestinian militants on Israel on October 7, 2023 “should never have happened”.
Trump’s incoming Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff told reporters that in negotiations for an agreement that would lead to the release of the hostages detained in Gaza, there is “great progress”. In this context, he also hopes that there will be good news soon before Trump’s January 20 inauguration. Witkoff went on to say that he will return to Doha, Qatar, where negotiations will be held on Wednesday, which the United States, Egypt and Qatar mediate between Israel and Hamas.
The October attack by Hamas on Israel sparked a war in the Gaza Strip that has been going on for about 15 months. At the time, according to Israeli data, Palestinian commandos led by Hamas killed in southern Israel around They took 1,200 people and 251 others hostage to the Gaza Strip. Of them 96 continue to remain in the Palestinian enclave and approx according to Israel, a third is already dead.
Israel’s retaliatory military operation has so far, according to Hamas-run authorities it has already claimed more than 45,000 victims. In addition, Israeli airstrikes and intense bombardment have razed much of the Palestinian enclave and, according to the UN, most of the population there have been forced to flee their homes.
