President Donald Trump on Monday urged Israel to abandon its ceasefire agreement with Hamas if the group fails to return all hostages held in Gaza by noon on Saturday, warning that “all hell” would break loose if they were not released.
His comments came after Hamas threatened to delay the next scheduled hostage release, accusing Israel of violating the ceasefire terms.
“As far as I’m concerned, if all of the hostages aren’t returned by Saturday at 12 o’clock – I think it’s an appropriate time – I would say, cancel it and all bets are off and let hell break out,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office after signing executive orders.
He emphasised that hostages must be freed in full, not gradually. “I’d say they ought to be returned by 12 o’clock on Saturday, and if they’re not returned – all of them, not in drips and drabs, not two and one and three and four and two. Saturday at 12 o’clock, and after that, I would say, all hell is going to break out.”
When pressed on what he meant by “all hell,” Trump remained vague. “You’ll find out, and they’ll find out — Hamas will find out what I mean,” he said. He added that while Israel could make its own decisions, his stance was clear: “Saturday at 12 o’clock, and if they’re not – they’re not here, all hell is going to break out.”
Trump also cast doubt on the survival of many hostages, telling reporters, “I think a lot of the hostages are dead.”
His administration has been involved in ceasefire negotiations through Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff. The deal was secured in the final weeks of President Joe Biden’s term, but Trump has expressed skepticism about its longevity. His proposal to permanently relocate Palestinians from Gaza and place the territory under U.S. control has added further uncertainty to the situation.
During a recent interview, he made clear that Palestinians would not be allowed to return to Gaza under his vision for U.S. stewardship of the strip.
“No, they wouldn’t,” he told Fox News when asked whether Palestinians would have a right of return. “Because they will have much better housing. Much better – in other words, I’m talking about building a permanent place for them.”
Trump’s remarks are likely to intensify global opposition to his proposal, which already sparked backlash when he first unveiled it last week alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The president also suggested that U.S. aid to Jordan and Egypt could be withheld if they refuse to take in Palestinian refugees.
“Yeah, maybe, sure why not?” he said when asked whether he would consider cutting assistance. “If they don’t, I would conceivably withhold aid, yes.”
Jordan’s King Abdullah, who is to meet Trump at the White House, has firmly rejected the idea, as have Egyptian leaders and other Arab officials.
Trump, however, remains confident he could negotiate a deal. “I’m talking about starting to build, and I think I could make a deal with Jordan. I think I could make a deal with Egypt. We give them billions and billions of dollars a year,” he said in his Fox News interview, which aired Monday.
Since first floating his Gaza proposal, some of Trump’s aides have attempted to clarify his stance. White House Press Secretary, Karoline Leavitt described his plan as a temporary relocation effort while Gaza undergoes reconstruction. Secretary of State Marco Rubio echoed this, saying the goal was to clear debris, remove munitions, and rebuild homes before allowing people to return.
Yet Trump himself has doubled down on his idea. Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday, he described Gaza as a “big real estate site” and argued against allowing Palestinians back.
“I think that it’s a big mistake to allow people — the Palestinians, or the people living in Gaza — to go back yet another time, and we don’t want Hamas going back. And think of it as a big real estate site, and the United States is going to own it and we’ll slowly – very slowly, we’re in no rush – develop it. We’re going to bring stability to the Middle East soon,” he said while travelling to the Super Bowl.
He reiterated this sentiment in his Fox News interview, insisting that rebuilding Gaza would take years and that U.S. control would ensure safety.
“We’ll build safe communities a little bit away from where they are, where all of this danger is and in the meantime, I would own this. Think of it as a real estate development for the future. It would be a beautiful piece of land,” he said.
Trump’s surprise announcement last week reportedly caught senior officials off guard. While he had privately discussed plans to take control of Gaza, his decision to publicly disclose them was unexpected.
Following the backlash, some advisers suggested Trump was trying to push regional players into action. National Security Adviser Mike Waltz defended the approach on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” saying, “Come to the table with your plan if you don’t like his plan.” He also claimed that Trump’s comments had prompted “all kinds of outreach” from regional leaders.
