Israel Trump's "final warning" - USA confirms talks with Hamas
With an ultimate "final warning", US President Donald Trump is attempting to further increase the pressure on the Islamist Hamas.
06.03.2025, 05:38
SDA
Hamas must immediately release all Israeli hostages in the Gaza Strip and hand over all the bodies of murdered Israelis "or it's over for you", Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. At the same time, the US government confirmed direct talks with Hamas about the hostages. Previous US administrations had always officially avoided direct talks with organizations that they classified as terrorist.
So far, Israel and Hamas have been unable to agree on the terms of an extension to the ceasefire. According to Israeli information, the Islamist organization is still holding 24 hostages and 35 bodies of abductees. Five of them also have US citizenship - only one of them, a young man, is still alive according to Israeli information.
Trump: Not a single Hamas member will be safe
Trump went on to threaten Hamas on Truth Social: "I will send Israel whatever it takes to finish the job. Not a single member of Hamas will be safe if you don't do what I say." This was "the final warning", Trump explained. Now is the time for the Hamas leadership to leave the Gaza Strip while they still have the chance.
Addressing the population, the US President wrote: "A wonderful future awaits you, but not if you hold hostages. If you do, you are dead." The people should make a "wise decision" and release the hostages or they would pay for it later.
Israel knows about US talks with Hamas
Earlier, Trump's spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt had been asked in the White House why the US was negotiating directly with the group for the first time, contrary to its long-standing policy. She replied that the special envoy tasked with this was authorized to speak to anyone. The US news portal "Axios" first reported this. According to the report, the US special envoy for hostage issues, Adam Boehler, spoke with members of Hamas in Qatar's capital Doha in recent weeks.
Previously, Hamas circles had confirmed to the German Press Agency that direct talks were taking place with the US government regarding American hostages and a possible broader agreement to end the Gaza war. No agreement has yet been reached, it added.
Leavitt said that Israel had been consulted on the matter. She did not wish to comment on the content of the talks.
The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced: "Israel has communicated its position to the United States regarding direct talks with Hamas." No details were given. The "Jerusalem Post" quoted an Israeli source as saying that Israel was not enthusiastic about the talks. Until now, the USA had negotiated with Israel and Qatari and Egyptian mediators.
Israel exerts pressure: "The clock is ticking"
Israel also increased the pressure on Hamas. The "Jerusalem Post" quoted officials as saying that the current situation, in which the ceasefire would continue without the release of the hostages, would not last forever. One source told the newspaper: "The clock is ticking - if there is no agreement on the release of more hostages, Israel will return to the fighting."
Israel is demanding the continuation of the ceasefire in return for the return of the abductees, as proposed by US special envoy Steve Witkoff. Hamas, on the other hand, is insisting on the immediate start of negotiations on the second phase of the agreement, which provides for an end to the war and the withdrawal of Israeli troops. The Israeli hostages could only be released in this way.
The war was triggered by the unprecedented massacre carried out by terrorists from Hamas and other extremist Palestinian organizations on 7 October 2023 in Israel near the border with the Gaza Strip. More than 1,200 people were killed on the Israeli side and more than 250 others were taken hostage in the Gaza Strip.
According to the Hamas-controlled health authority, more than 48,300 people have been killed in Gaza since the start of the war. The independently unverifiable figure does not distinguish between combatants and civilians, but is considered quite credible by the UN.
