US President Donald Trump has warned that if all Israeli hostages in Gaza are not returned by noon on Saturday, he will propose to cancel the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas and “let the situation get out of control.”
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office of the White House late Monday, the US president also said that he could cut off aid to Jordan and Egypt if those countries do not accept Palestinian refugees displaced from Gaza.
Trump’s statement came after Hamas announced that it was indefinitely postponing the release of the hostages due to “violations” of the ceasefire terms. Following the statement, Israel’s defense minister put the country’s armed forces on high alert, instructing them to be ready for “any developments in Gaza.”
Trump called Hamas’s announcement “terrible” and said that the fate of the ceasefire should be decided by Israel: “If all the hostages are not returned by Saturday afternoon, I think that’s a pretty reasonable time, I’ll say, call off the ceasefire and let it all blow up.”
Trump said the hostages should be released “not one by one, not two, one, three, four, or two. We want them all back. I speak for myself. Israel can reconsider, but I think Saturday afternoon, and if they’re not there, everything will blow up,” he said.
