Hamas, hunkering in the rubble of Gaza, still holds, by best estimates, 50 hostages. Only 20 of those are believed to still be alive. Now President Trump, speaking to assembled media on Sunday, issued what appears to be an ultimatum to Hamas, demanding the release of all hostages.
President Donald Trump issued his "last warning" to Hamas to accept his deal and release the remaining hostages or face the consequences.
"Everyone wants the hostages HOME. Everyone wants this War to end," Trump wrote on Truth Social. "The Israelis have accepted my Terms. It is time for Hamas to accept as well."
"I have warned Hamas about the consequences of not accepting," he continued. "This is my last warning, there will not be another one! Thank you for your attention to this matter."
Last month, Trump said the remaining hostages would only be returned when Hamas is "confronted and destroyed." At the time, Hamas was citing alleged progress in ceasefire talks.
I'll offer a prediction that being that Hamas won't accept any terms from the United States or from Israel. If they were interested in a cease-fire, they would have accepted an offer before now. And if they did accept a cease-fire, it would only be to buy time, to re-quip, recruit, train, and generally get ready for the next attack. If there's one thing we should be able to determine from Hamas's history, along with the history of all such Islamic terror groups, it's that they can't be trusted any farther than a toddler can throw an aircraft carrier.
This is Israel's fight, granted, but the United States does have an interest in seeing Hamas removed from the area. Americans were taken hostage on October 7th as well, and any Americans in the area may well be taken again, should there be a recurrence of the October 7th attack.
This isn't the first such ultimatum that Hamas has ignored.
In July, the U.S. and Israel pulled negotiators from Qatar after Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff said Hamas showed a "lack of desire to reach a ceasefire" and was likely not negotiating in good faith.
On Aug. 26, Witkoff told Fox News’ Bret Baier on "Special Report" that he and Trump wanted the hostages home that week.
"There’s been a deal on the table for the last six or seven weeks that would have released 10 of the hostages out of the 20 who we think are alive," he said, noting that he believes Hamas is "100%" to blame for the hold-up.
Hamas is "100 percent" to blame for everything that has happened in Gaza and in Israel, every act of terror, every murder, every atrocity, since (and, candidly, before) October 7, 2023.
Read More: Netanyahu: Israel May Seize Gaza to Liberate Civilians From Hamas
Israel is now preparing another offensive against Hamas and has issued warnings for civilians to leave the areas that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) will be moving into to engage Hamas. While we can appreciate Israel's attempts to minimize deaths and injuries among civilians, not only does this tell Hamas precisely where the IDF is going to engage, but the release of civilians also allows Hamas fighters to change clothes and blend into the population, escaping to fight another day. This happened in Iraq in 2003, and is likely to happen here as well.
There is just no easy answer to this problem, but one thing remains certain: There will be no peace, no stability, no security in Gaza or in Israel until Hamas is completely and utterly removed from the board.
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