Trump threatens Hamas with ‘hell to pay’
The incoming US president has demanded that the Palestinian militants free all of their hostages before his inauguration | US President-elect Donald Trump has warned that there will be “all hell to pay in the Middle East” if Hamas does not release its remaining Israeli hostages before he assumes office. Trump has pressed both Israel and the Palestinian militants to end their conflict before his inauguration. ● Hamas militants captured more than 250 hostages during their assault on Israel last October. While 105 were freed during a short-lived truce the following month and several others rescued this year, around 100 are believed to remain in Gaza, with Hamas tying their release to an Israeli withdrawal from the enclave – a condition that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has refused to accept. [What about the 6,000 Palestinian men and women detained in Israel? -Ed.]