U.S. President-elect Donald Trump gestures as he makes remarks at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, U.S. Jan. 7, 2025.
Carlos Barria | Reuters
President-elect Donald Trump warned Tuesday that “all hell will break out in the Middle East” if Hamas does not release the hostages it is holding in Gaza by the time he is inaugurated on Jan. 20.
“And it will not be good for Hamas and it will not be good frankly for anyone,” Trump said at a press conference at his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida.
“We want to get back those hostages for Israel and for us,” Trump said.
“You know, we do have people that are hostages being held,” he said “And I’ll just say it again, if this deal is not done with the people representing our nation, by the time I get to office, all hell is going to break out.”
Trump did not specify what action he would take if the hostages were not released.
Nearly 100 hostages are believed to remain in captivity in Gaza, with some of those people presumed to be dead.
Hamas on Monday released a list with the names of 34 hostages that the group said it is willing to release in the first stage of a possible ceasefire agreement with Israel.
Trump reissued his warning as Steve Witkoff, his designated envoy to the Middle East, told reporters that there has been “a lot of progress” in negotiations in Doha, Qatar, to win the release of hostages seized during the terror group’s deadly Oct. 7, 2023, incursion into Israel.
“I believe we’ve been on the verge of it,” said Witkoff, after Trump spotted him in the back of the room and called him up to the podium to speak.
Witkoff said he expected to fly back to Doha on Tuesday night or Wednesday morning.
It was unclear what role Witkoff was playing in any talks, given that Trump does not take office for another two weeks, and Witkoff is not formally a U.S. government representative.
Earlier Tuesday, Hamas said it was standing by its demand that Israel fully end military operations against Gaza as part of any deal to release the hostages.
Israel, in turn, says the war will continue until the hostages are released and Hamas is dismantled, according to Reuters news service.
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“I don’t want to say too much” about the status of the talks in Doha, Witkoff said.
But, he added, “I’m really hopeful that by the inauguration we’ll have some really good things to announce on behalf of the president.”
He credited Trump’s “reputation, the things that he has said” with “driving the negotiations.”
“I think they heard him loud and clear, and to get done by the inaugural,” Witkoff said.
“Hopefully it’ll all work out and we’ll save some lives,” he added.