Hamas has rejected Donald Trump’s latest threats against it and the people of Gaza, in which he warned that they were “dead” if remaining Israeli captives held in the devastated enclave were not released.Â
The Palestinian group demanded that Israel abide by the second phase of the ceasefire agreement
Trump on Wednesday issued what he called a “last warning” to Hamas to free the captives, and threatened “hell to pay” if they did not comply.
“Trump’s repeated threats against our people are support for Netanyahu to evade the [ceasefire] agreement and tighten the siege and starvation of our people,” Hamas spokesperson Abd al-Latif al-Qanou wrote on his Telegram channel this morning.
“The best path to free the remaining Israeli prisoners is for the occupation to enter second-phase negotiations and force it to abide by the signed agreement.”
Israel has reneged on the terms of the original ceasefire agreement and is refusing to engage in talks to enter the second stage of the truce. Instead, it wants to extend the current truce for another six weeks and secure the release of more captives without negotiating a permanent end to the war.
On Sunday it imposed a full siege on Gaza, stopping the entry of all humanitarian aid into the territory.
