Hamas brushes off Trump's threat and says it will only free hostages in
return for a lasting truce
[March 06, 2025]
By SAMY MAGDY
CAIRO (AP) — The Hamas militant group on Thursday brushed off President
Donald Trump's latest threat and reiterated that it will only free the
remaining Israeli hostages in exchange for a lasting ceasefire in the
Gaza Strip.
Hamas accused Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of
trying to back out of the ceasefire agreement they reached in January.
The agreement calls for negotiations over a second phase in which the
hostages would be released in exchange for more Palestinian prisoners, a
permanent ceasefire and an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.
Hamas spokesman Abdel-Latif al-Qanoua said the “best path to free the
remaining Israeli hostages” is through negotiations on that phase, which
were supposed to begin in early February. Only limited preparatory talks
have been held so far.
On Wednesday, Trump issued what he said was a “last warning” to Hamas
after meeting with eight former hostages. The White House meanwhile
confirmed it had held unprecedented direct talks with the militant
group, which Israel and Western countries view as a terrorist
organization.
“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 wrote on his Truth Social platform. “Only sick and twisted people
keep bodies, and you are sick and twisted!”
Both Israel and Hamas have a longstanding practice of holding onto the
remains of their adversaries in order to trade them in hostage-prisoner
deals.
Hamas is believed to still have 24 living hostages taken in the Oct. 7,
2023, attack that triggered the war, including Israeli-American Edan
Alexander. It is also holding the bodies of 34 others who were either
killed in the initial attack or in captivity, as well as the remains of
a soldier killed in the 2014 war.
Hamas released 25 Israeli hostages and the bodies of eight more in
exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners in the first, 42-day
phase of the ceasefire, which ended on Saturday.
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Demonstrators hold photos depicting the faces of Israeli hostages
who are being held in the Gaza Strip, during a protest demanding
their release from Hamas captivity, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Thursday,
March 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
Israel supports what it says is a new U.S. plan for the second phase
in which Hamas would release half the remaining hostages immediately
and the rest when a permanent ceasefire is negotiated. Hamas has
rejected the proposal and says it is sticking with the agreement
signed in January.
Israel has cut off the delivery of food, fuel, medicine and other
supplies to Gaza's roughly 2 million Palestinians in an attempt to
pressure Hamas into accepting the new arrangement. It has threatened
“additional consequences” if Hamas does not resume the release of
hostages.
It's unclear if the U.S.-Hamas talks made any progress. The Trump
administration has pledged full support for Israel's main war goals
of returning all the hostages and eradicating Hamas, which may be
incompatible.
Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in
the Oct. 7 attack and took a total of 251 people hostage. Most have
been released in ceasefire agreements or other arrangements. Israeli
forces have rescued eight living hostages and recovered the bodies
of dozens more.
Israel's military offensive has killed over 48,000 Palestinians,
mostly women and children, according to Gaza's Health Ministry,
which does not say how many of the dead were militants. Israel says
it has killed over 17,000 fighters, without providing evidence.
The offensive destroyed vast areas in Gaza and displaced most of its
population. Hundreds of thousands of people are living in tents,
schools-turned-shelters or war-damaged buildings, and the population
relies on international aid.
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