Hamas either just escaped a bullet or, as Donald Trump stated on Wednesday, following a meeting between King Abdullah of Jordan and President Donald Trump, at noon on Saturday “all bets will be off.”
Hamas’ leadership has updated its position on what they plan to do.
Hamas announced on Thursday it would resume the release of hostages following the ceasefire agreement it had signed with Israel. Earlier, it said it would postpone exchanges indefinitely because Israel violated their three-week-old ceasefire.
Hamas released an official statement on its website.
We do not want the Gaza ceasefire to fail. We want to see it implemented and that Israel complies fully. Mediators are exerting pressure on Israel to comply with the humanitarian protocol and complete the full implementation.
This is where things get interesting.
In the title, I asked if Hamas’ most recent capitulation was enough to satisfy Trump’s demand that all hostages must be released before noon on Saturday. On Monday, the president was very clear.
The president said to reporters in the Oval Office that if the hostages were not returned by Saturday at noon – I believe it is an appropriate time – he would cancel the plan and declare it a sham. “All bets would be off, and hell would break loose,” he told the reporters.
I would say that they should be returned before noon on Saturday. If they are not all returned by Saturday at noon, then there will be a riot. After that, I’d say all hell will break loose.
On Tuesday, the Israeli Cabinet announced that it fully supported Trump’s ultimatum for Hamas, which was to release its remaining hostages before noon on Saturday, or else, as the President put it, “all hell will break loose.”
A Fox News reporter reported on Tuesday that an Israeli official said the cabinet made its declaration after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called his security cabinet following Hamas’ announcement to delay the release of Israeli hostages. Netanyahu released a statement in which he said:
I unanimously passed the following decision in the Cabinet: If Hamas fails to return our hostages before Saturday noon, the ceasefire ends, and the IDF will re-engage in intense combat until Hamas has been decisively defeated. I told the IDF to gather forces in and around the Gaza Strip last night after Hamas announced its intention to break the agreement by refusing to release our hostages. The operation is underway and will be finished as soon as possible.
As of the date this article was written, neither the White House nor Israel’s government had replied to Hamas’ statement.
Here we are.
Is Hamas simply up to its long-played survival game of “dodge and weave” in an attempt to stave off Trump’s ultimatum, wholly backed by the Israeli government and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, or at noon on Saturday, will “all bets be off,” and God knows what’s next?
