(Dave DeCamp, Antiwar.com) President Trump said on Monday that the only way the remaining Israeli captives would be freed from Gaza is if Hamas is “confronted and destroyed,” a statement that provides backing for the Israeli government’s plans to escalate its genocidal war on the Palestinian territory.
“We will only see the return of the remaining hostages when Hamas is confronted and destroyed!!! The sooner this takes place, the better the chances of success will be,” the president wrote on Truth Social.
The next phase of Israel’s offensive will focus on taking over Gaza City and involves forcibly displacing 1.2 million Palestinian civilians to the south as part of an ethnic cleansing campaign. The plans to escalate come as Palestinians are starving to death in Gaza every day due to the Israeli blockade, and a new mass displacement will make the humanitarian situation significantly worse.
While Trump claims escalation is the only way to free the captives, relatives of the Israelis who remain in Gaza and former hostages are urging for a diplomatic solution. The Israeli military has also been warning that plans to escalate with the goal of the full occupation of Gaza would risk harming or killing the remaining captives, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu isn’t concerned.
Trump also claimed in his post that he was responsible for freeing “hundreds” of Israeli hostages, a reference to the ceasefire deal that was signed in January, under which Hamas released 30 living Israeli captives. Hamas also later released Edan Alexander, an Israeli-American IDF soldier, as a goodwill gesture to the Trump administration. More than 100 civilian Israeli hostages were released as part of a short truce deal in November 2023, and just eight Israelis have been recovered alive by the Israeli military.
“Remember, I was the one who negotiated and got hundreds of hostages freed and released into Israel (and America!),” Trump said. “I was the one who ended 6 wars, in just 6 months. I was the one who OBLITERATED Iran’s Nuclear facilities. Play to WIN, or don’t play at all! Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
US and Israeli officials have claimed that Hamas is not interested in a diplomatic deal, but the group’s long-standing position is that it’s willing to release the remaining 50 Israelis, which include only about 20 who are alive, in exchange for a permanent truce. Hamas is also working with mediators Qatar and Egypt to restart ceasefire talks and has accepted their latest proposal.
This article originally appeared at Antiwar.com.
