'All Hell Will Break Out': Trump Warns Hamas Over Hostages Return Again

Washington: US President-elect Donald Trump again issued a stern warning to Hamas saying that "all hell will break out" if the terrorist group did not release hostages before he assumes the White House on January 20 as the 47th President of America.

Speaking at a press conference in Mar-a-Lago, when asked about reports of Hamas releasing hostages, Trump said, "It will not be good for Hamas and it will not be good frankly for anyone. All hell will break out. I don’t have to say anymore, but that’s what it is. They should have given them back a long time ago — they should have never taken them. There should have never been the attack of October 7th. People forget that, but there was and many people are killed."

"They’re no longer hostages. I have people from Israel and others calling, begging me to get — we had also people there from the United States just so you know. They’re holding some so-called hostages from the US, but I’ve had mothers come to me and fathers crying, can I get the body of their son back? Can I get the body of their daughter back?" he added.

The US President-elect recalled an incident where he said hostages were being treated as a "sack of potatoes," and said, "I tell this, I don’t want to hurt the negotiation. If the deal isn’t done before I take office, which is now going to be two weeks, all hell will break out in the Middle East."

He also applauded his Special Envoy to the Middle East, Steven Charles Witkoff, for the progress made in releasing the hostages so far.

RELEASE THE HOSTAGES NOW!: Trump's Ultimatum to Hamas

This is the second 'stern' warning by the US President-elect. Earlier in December, Trump issued an alarming threat to Hamas over the release of hostages still being held in Gaza, saying if the hostages are not released by the time he assumes charge of his office, there will be 'all hell to pay' in the Middle East.

In a post on social media, Trump wrote, "Everybody is talking about the hostages who are being held so violently, inhumanely, and against the will of the entire World, in the Middle East - But it’s all talk and no action! Please let this TRUTH serve to represent that if the hostages are not released prior to January 20, 2025, the date that I proudly assume Office as President of the United States, there will be ALL HELL TO PAY in the Middle East, and for those in charge who perpetrated these atrocities against Humanity."

Trump demanded, "Those responsible will be hit harder than anybody has been hit in the long and storied History of the United States of America. RELEASE THE HOSTAGES NOW!”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu 's office declined to comment, but the country's president, Isaac Herzog, welcomed Trump's comments in a social media post.

He wrote on X, "Thank you and bless you Mr. President-elect Donald Trump. We all pray for the moment we see our sisters and brothers back home!" 

(Inputs from PTI, ANI)