President Donald Trump on Thursday repeated his warning that Hamas must immediately release the remaining Israeli hostages. The group, which is considered a terrorist organization by the United States, said it would do so only in exchange for a lasting ceasefire. As VOA correspondent Patsy Widakuswara reports, Hamas accused the United States and Israel of trying to pull out of the negotiations.
As Palestinians try to rebuild their lives amid a fragile ceasefire in Gaza, President Donald Trump gave Hamas, a US-designated terrorist group, an ultimatum: immediately release all Israeli hostages or "pay dearly."
On Thursday, he was asked what he meant by this, A2 reports.
"You'll see. I had the honor of spending a lot of time yesterday with some of the released hostages, and I can't believe how badly they've been treated," President Trump responded.
He made the warning on Wednesday after meeting with them.
Mr. Trump's administration sent $4 billion in weapons to Israel this week, the second time in a month that it used emergency authority to bypass congressional approval for the sale.
A Hamas spokesman said the best way to free the hostages was through ceasefire negotiations. Washington's policy has been not to negotiate with terrorists. But Mr. Trump confirmed that his administration had begun direct talks with Hamas about the release of the hostages.
"We are helping Israel in these discussions, because we are talking about Israeli hostages. And we are not doing anything about Hamas. We are not giving money," he said.
These talks appear to be separate from negotiations between Hamas and Israel to secure the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire. The first phase ended last weekend.
"Many people predict the ceasefire will fail because they expect Prime Minister [Benjamin] Netanyahu to start hitting Gaza again. And once that happens, there will be no more hostage releases," says Mirette Mabrouk, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute.
Meanwhile, Arab countries on Tuesday approved a counterproposal to Mr. Trump's call to expel Palestinians and turn Gaza into a tourist destination. Under the Arab plan, Palestinians would stay there and Hamas would be excluded from governing. Israel has rejected the plan.
The Arab plan is a "first step of good faith," President Trump's Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, told VOA. He did not say whether Palestinians would be left in Gaza.
"We're evaluating everything there. So it's a little early to comment."
Israel has also blocked all aid to Gaza since Sunday, repeating long-standing accusations that it is going to Hamas, which international agencies deny.
There is currently a fuel shortage in the territory, which further jeopardizes basic services such as garbage collection./ Voice of America (A2 Televizion)
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