Former U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday that the fragile ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas should be called off if Hamas fails to release all remaining hostages in the Gaza Strip by noon on Saturday. However, he also added that this decision would be up to Israel to make.
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02-11, 2025Trump's statement stems from Hamas's earlier claim that they would postpone further releases of hostages in the Gaza Strip, citing accusations that Israel had violated the three-week-old ceasefire agreement. Trump believes that after Hamas released three visibly emaciated hostages on Saturday, Israel should now demand that Hamas release all hostages by noon on Saturday or restart the war.
Trump stated forcefully, "If they [the hostages] are not released, everything will become bad. Cancel the ceasefire agreement, and everything will be null and void." He added that the final decision rests with Israel, emphasizing, "I'm just expressing my personal opinion. Israel can overturn it." When asked if the U.S. would participate in actions against Hamas if the hostages were not released, Trump responded, "Hamas will understand what I mean."
Previously, Trump stated in an interview with Fox News Channel that Palestinians have no right to return to Gaza under his proposed plan for the U.S. to "own" the Gaza Strip. This contradicts statements from other officials in his administration, who tried to argue that Trump was only calling for the temporary relocation of local residents. Less than a week after proposing a plan for the U.S. to control Gaza and turn it into the "Riviera of the Middle East," Trump stated unequivocally in the Fox News interview: "No, they won't [have the right to return]."
At the same time, Trump has increased pressure on Arab countries, particularly U.S. allies Jordan and Egypt, to receive Palestinians from Gaza, who claim the region as part of their future homeland. Trump stated, "We will build safe communities far from danger. At the same time, I will own this. Think of it as a future real estate development project, it will be a beautiful piece of land, and it won't cost much money."
Arab countries have strongly criticized Trump's proposal, and Trump is scheduled to host Jordan's King Abdullah II at the White House on Tuesday. In addition to concerns about jeopardizing the long-standing two-state solution aimed at resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Egypt and Jordan have privately expressed security concerns about receiving large numbers of additional refugees into their countries, even temporarily. When asked how to persuade King Abdullah to receive Palestinians, Trump told reporters, "I think he will accept, and I think other countries will accept, they have kind hearts." But he also threatened that if they did not accept his plan, he might withhold billions of dollars in U.S. aid.
Trump's remarks could jeopardize the already fragile ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas. The existing negotiating framework, reached after 15 months of war, calls for large-scale humanitarian and reconstruction aid to be provided to civilians in Gaza. After Trump made his initial comments last week, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt and Secretary of State Marco Rubio both stated that Trump only wanted to evacuate Palestinians from Gaza "temporarily" in order to clear rubble, handle unexploded ordnance, and carry out reconstruction.
Speaking about the condition of the remaining hostages, Trump told reporters on Monday that he was concerned that Hamas was releasing the hostages in the best condition, while many of those scheduled for release were seriously ill or had already died. He said, "Based on what I've seen in the past two days, they won't live much longer." After Hamas released the latest hostages on Saturday, Rachel and Jon Goldberg-Polin, the parents of slain American hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin, released a video message calling on Trump and his negotiating team to "think bigger and faster" and urging the release of all remaining hostages this week. "Release all 76 hostages this week, end the war. Who benefits from a long delay? It doesn't benefit the people of the region. Let's get it done now," they said.
Trump last week did not rule out deploying U.S. troops to help secure Gaza, but at the same time insisted that no U.S. funds would be used to pay for the region's reconstruction, raising fundamental questions about the nature of his plan. Egypt on Monday reiterated its rejection of the displacement of Palestinians from their territories in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, warning that such proposals threaten the roots of the people of the Middle East. The Egyptian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital is the basis for "comprehensive and just peace" in the region. The statement said that Egypt rejects any infringement on the Palestinians' "right to self-determination...and independence" and "upholds the right of return of Palestinian refugees forced to leave their homes," referring to the hundreds of thousands who were forced to flee their homes during the 1948 war.
Senior Hamas officials slammed Trump's latest remarks about the U.S. owning Gaza as "absurd." Hamas political bureau member Izzat al-Rishq said the remarks "reflect a deep ignorance of Palestine and the region." He said in comments released by Hamas earlier Monday that Trump's approach to the Palestinian issue would fail. "Dealing with the Palestinian issue with the mentality of a real estate agent is the root of failure. We, the Palestinian people, will thwart all displacement and expulsion plans," he said.
