Hamas, a U.S.-designated terror organization, said Thursday that threats from U.S. President Donald Trump are encouraging Israel to walk away from a Gaza ceasefire deal.

The comments came a day after Trump said "there will be hell to pay" if Hamas does not release the remaining hostages being held in Gaza.

"Release all of the Hostages now, not later, and immediately return all of the dead bodies of the people you murdered, or it is OVER for you," Trump said on his Truth Social platform.

"I am sending Israel everything it needs to finish the job, not a single Hamas member will be safe if you don’t do as I say," Trump added.

The first phase of the ceasefire ended Saturday. It included Hamas freeing 33 Israeli hostages and five Thais, and Israel freeing about 2,000 Palestinian prisoners.

The White House confirmed on Wednesday it had engaged in direct talks with Hamas. Sources familiar with the matter said the talks focused on the release of American hostages still being held in Gaza.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt described the talks as "a good-faith effort to do what’s right for the American people."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said in a statement that Israel "has expressed to the United States its position regarding direct talks with Hamas."

The war in Gaza began with the October 2023 Hamas attack on Israel that killed about 1,200 people and resulted in 250 people being taken hostage. Israel’s counteroffensive in Gaza has killed more than 48,400 Palestinians according to the health ministry in Gaza.

Some information for this report came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.

VOA News

The Voice of America provides news and information in more than 40 languages to an estimated weekly audience of over 326 million people. Stories with the VOA News byline are the work of multiple VOA journalists and may contain information from wire service reports.

Subscribe