[ad_1]
President Donald Trump issued what he called the “last warning” to Hamas on Wednesday, freeing all remaining hostages held in Gaza, and directing a sharply expressed message after confirming that the White House had recently dispatched an envoy for an unprecedented in-person talks with extremist groups.
In a statement on his true social platform shortly after meeting eight former hostages at the White House, Trump added that he is “sending everything he needs to get his job done to Israel.”
“Releasing all the hostages not now, and immediately returning all the bodies of those you murdered, or it’s over for you,” Trump said. “Only those who are sick and twisted are keeping their bodies, and you are sick and twisted!”
The sharp language from Trump comes after the White House said Wednesday that US officials had left the longstanding US policy of not engaging in “ongoing consultations and discussions” with Hamas officials and not directly involved in extremist groups.
Confirmation of talks in Doha’s Qatar capital is well balanced as the Israeli Hamas ceasefire remains. This is the first known direct involvement between the US and Hamas since the State Department designated the group a foreign terrorist organization in 1997.
White House spokesman Caroline Leavitt refused to provide details on what was going on in the talks, but said President Donald Trump allowed his envoy to “speak to anyone.” The Egyptian-Qatar intermediary has been an intermediary between Hamas in the US and Israel since the group began on October 7, 2023.
“To interact, interact and speak with people around the world for the best interests of Americans is something that the President is for the President. I believe it is a good-willed effort to do what is right for Americans,” she said.
Leavitt added that Israel has been consulted about direct involvement with Hamas officials, noting that “American lives are at stake.” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office provided a brief approval for the US Hamas meeting. “Israel has expressed its position in the United States regarding its direct meeting with Hamas,” the Prime Minister’s Office said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office provided a brief approval for the US Hamas meeting. “Israel has expressed its position in the United States regarding its in-person meeting with Hamas,” the Prime Minister’s Office said.
Israeli officials say about 24 living hostages, including American citizen Edan Alexander, and at least 35 bodies, are still believed to be still being held in Gaza.
Trump candidate Adam Berer, a special envoy on Trump’s hostage issue, led a direct consultation with Hamas. Boehler, founder and CEO of healthcare investment firm Rubicon Founders, was a key negotiator for the Abraham Accord team during Trump’s first term in office, striving to gain wider recognition of Israel in the Arab world.
The talk, given last month, focuses primarily on the release of American hostages, and on the potential end of a war where Hamas is out of power.
Officials added that there was no progress but “the step itself is promising,” adding that more consultations are expected. Egyptian and Qatari mediators helped arrange consultations.
The direct involvement is because the continued Israeli Hama ceasefire remains uncertain. Trump shows that if Hamas does not agree to the terms of the new ceasefire proposal that Israelis claimed to be drafted by US envoy Steve Witkov, he has no intention of pushing Netanyahu out of his return to combat.
In the new plan, Hamas calls for the release of half of the remaining hostages (the main negotiation tip of extremist groups) in exchange for a promise to negotiate an extension of the ceasefire and a permanent ceasefire. Israel has not mentioned the release of more Palestinian prisoners, an important element of the first stage.
On Wednesday, Trump welcomed eight former hostages to the White House: Iair Horn, Omer Shem Tov, Eli Sharabi, Keith Siegel, Aviva Siegel, Naama Levy, Doron Steinbrecher and Noa Argamani.
“The president listened enthusiastically to their heartbreaking stories,” Levitt said. “The hostages thanked President Trump for his steady efforts to bring all of the hostages into the house.”
Keith Siegel, an Israeli-American who was released last month as part of a ceasefire, said they came to the White House to express their gratitude to Mid East envoys Trump and Witkov.
“We urged them to continue making a big effort. They did so much. We trust them and know they will get the job done to bring all the remaining 59 hostages held in Gaza back to their families,” he said in a statement.
Consultations between us and Hamas officials were first reported on Wednesday by news site Axios.
Levitt, a White House press secretary, is one of three administrative authorities facing lawsuits from the Associated Press under the First and Fifth Amendments. The AP says the three are punishing news outlets for editorial decisions they oppose. The White House says the AP has not followed an executive order to call the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America.
According to the contract, the battle will be suspended in Gaza for six weeks, releasing dozens of Israeli hostages and hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.
[ad_2]Source link
