All hell to pay, Trump issues deadline to Hamas to release Gaza hostages

US President-elect Donald Trump on Monday warned that those responsible for holding the hostages in Gaza will face massive repercussions if captives are not released by the time he assumes office.

“Everybody is talking about the hostages who are being held so violently, inhumanely, and against the will of the entire World, in the Middle East – But it’s all talk, and no action! Please let this TRUTH serve to represent that if the hostages are not released prior to January 20, 2025, the date that I proudly assume Office as President of the United States, there will be ALL HELL TO PAY in the Middle East, and for those in charge who perpetrated these atrocities against Humanity. Those responsible will be hit harder than anybody has been hit in the long and storied History of the United States of America. RELEASE THE HOSTAGES NOW!” Trump said in his post on Truth Social.

During the October 7 attack on Israel, Hamas members had taken 251 members as hostage.

Several of the hostages have been released since then but Hamas members are still holding a large number of people in captivity.

Meanwhile, describing the situation in Gaza as “appalling and apocalyptic” the UN Deputy Secretary-General on Monday called on world leaders to act decisively to alleviate suffering and prevent the further devastation of the enclave.

Speaking at a ministerial conference on humanitarian aid for Gaza, convened in Cairo by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, UN deputy chief Amina Mohammed emphasised the urgent need for lifesaving assistance and a plan for the enclave’s long-term recovery.

“We are here to help secure an immediate surge in lifesaving aid for the Palestinian people, ensure preparedness for a potential ceasefire, and begin laying the groundwork for recovery and reconstruction – this cannot happen soon enough,” she said, speaking on behalf of the UN Secretary-General António Guterres.

Organised looting forces UNRWA to pause aid

Deliveries of desperately needed food and other supplies into Gaza have had to be halted through the enclave’s Kerem Shalom crossing because of looting by armed gangs, the UN agency assisting Palestine refugees, UNRWA, has announced.

The agency took the decision on Sunday after it said that lorries carrying food were “all taken” after crossing into Gaza through what is the main aid corridor.

Explaining the move, UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini said that the route had not been safe “for months”. On 16 November, a large convoy of aid trucks which also crossed through Kerem Shalom was stolen by armed gangs.

Further inside Gaza, aid workers are deeply concerned that malnutrition levels are spiralling.

UNRWA Senior Emergencies Officer, Louise Wateridge, speaking from one of the UN agency’s schools in Deir Al-Balah where 6,000 people are sheltering on Monday, described families sleeping on cold, wet floors and witnessing one young child “crying and screaming in the corner, just screaming for a piece of bread. She was just crying for a piece of bread”.

Mohammed outlined the devastating toll of the conflict: with over 44,000 Palestinian lives reportedly lost, according to the authorities in Gaza, widespread displacement and the collapse of essential services.

Children have been the worst impacted, with nearly 19,000 hospitalised in the past four months alone due to acute malnutrition. Gaza now has the highest number of child amputees per capita globally, with many surgeries conducted without anaesthesia.

“What we are seeing may well amount to the gravest international crimes,” she said.