Release demanded

Trump threatens Hamas hostage-takers with “hell”

(Bild: AP)

US President-elect Donald Trump has issued an ultimatum to the terrorist organization Hamas. By the time he takes office on January 20, they are to release the Israeli hostages who have been in the terrorists' clutches for more than a year - otherwise they will face "hell".

Only half of the hostages abducted on October 7 last year are said to be still alive. The Israeli military recently announced the death of another victim. A young man who also had US citizenship. 

"All hell will break loose in the Middle East"
Trump has now set a deadline for the release of the hostages still held by Hamas. "If the hostages are not released before January 20, 2025, the day I proudly take office as President of the United States, all hell will break loose in the Middle East, including for those in power who have committed these atrocities against humanity," he declared on the Truth Social platform, which he co-founded.

Trump's post can be seen here: 

"Those responsible will be hit harder than anyone has ever been hit in the long and storied history of the United States of America." He ended his post with the plea: "Release the hostages now!"

Of the 101 people who were abducted to the Gaza Strip and are still missing, 50 to 60 victims are still believed to be alive. Some of them also have German or US citizenship. 

It was only on Monday that Israel's military announced that another hostage was dead: Omer Neutra, a 21-year-old soldier at the time of his abduction, had already been killed during the massacre on October 7 and his body had been held in the Gaza Strip ever since. Previously, it had been hoped that the young man might be alive. 

Here the Israeli government announces the death of Omer Neutra:

Grew up in the US, then joined Israel's military
Neutra was an armored platoon commander at the time of the attack. Israel's Foreign Minister Israel Katz has now declared that the soldier "died on October 7 in a heroic battle near Nir Oz". The young man had grown up in the USA and had then "decided to come to Israel and join the Israeli armed forces to defend our people", according to Israel's President Isaac Herzog, who had met the victim's family several times. 

It is unlikely that the terrorist militia will be intimidated by Trump's threats. Hamas is demanding an end to the war and Israel's complete withdrawal from the Gaza Strip as a precondition for the release of the hostages. In the massacre on October 7, 2023, 1,200 people were killed and around 250 others kidnapped.