It was impossible to not be moved by Wednesday’s emotional meeting at the White House between US President Donald Trump and a group of freed Israeli hostages – Eli Sharabi, Keith and Aviva Siegel, Naama Levy, Doron Steinbrecher, Iair Horn, Omer Shem Tov, and Noa Argamani.
Almost all of them were freed as part of ceasefire deals between Israel and Hamas.
During the meeting, organized by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum and Hostage Aid, the group presented Trump with a gold plaque of gratitude and thanked him for his commitment to returning all the hostages. They shared their experiences in captivity and emphasized the need to bring back all the hostages immediately.
“My family and myself believe you have been sent by God to release them,” Shem Tov told Trump.
After the meeting, Trump posted a warning to Hamas on his Truth Social social-media platform: “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. Only sick and twisted people keep bodies, and you are sick and twisted! I am sending Israel everything it needs to finish the job, not a single Hamas member will be safe if you don’t do as I say. I have just met with your former Hostages whose lives you have destroyed. This is your last warning! For the leadership, now is the time to leave Gaza, while you still have a chance. Also, to the People of Gaza: A beautiful Future awaits, but not if you hold Hostages. If you do, you are DEAD! Make a SMART decision. RELEASE THE HOSTAGES NOW, OR THERE WILL BE HELL TO PAY LATER!”
He concluded his warning in capital letters, reiterating the threat made almost a month ago, when he announced that if all of the remaining hostages were not released by noon on February 15, all hell would break loose.
That deadline came and went, and Hamas released the three hostages that were scheduled to be released that day.
Most of what Trump wrote in Wednesday night’s post was certainly accurate. Hamas is sick and twisted, and the immediate release of all of the hostages is a sentiment that all decent people in the world share.
Repeating an empty threat
But is repeating a threat that was already made and wasn’t implemented – a threat that if implemented could put the lives of the remaining hostages in grave danger – really going to help the impasse that seems to be in place regarding the continuation of the ceasefire to phase two?
Phase two, it should be remembered, included the release of all of the remaining hostages and the full withdrawal of the IDF from Gaza. This isn’t happening for a myriad of reasons, foremost among them the issue of what happens to Hamas?
That is the conundrum holding everything up. Israel will not accept a Hamas-ruled Gaza or a Hamas that maintains its weapons and capabilities to attack Israel. But as long as Hamas holds hostages, it has the upper hand, and no amount of bluster from the White House can change that.
Along with the cowboy tactics, however, there appears to be diplomatic movement. According to Reuters, discussions took place on Wednesday night among Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, Hamas leaders, and mediators from Egypt and Qatar.
The precedent of an American official meeting with a terrorist group could lead to a breakthrough, according to the report. Among the issues discussed were governance of Gaza after the end of the war, including names, a move that could pave the way to a second phase of the ceasefire.
The “all hell will break loose” bluster and Trump’s bombshell declaration last month of emptying Gaza and bringing it under US control have managed to convince Hamas and the Arab countries involved that they need to come up with solutions.
But the communique issued at the end of the emergency Arab summit this week, outlining its plan for Gaza, is unrealistic and doesn’t indicate that the Arab world is on board with Hamas’s demise – because it never mentions that Hamas must go or even be demilitarized.
On the other hand, if Israel is encouraged by Trump into renewing the war and going after Hamas without impunity, it may lessen the possibility of freeing the hostages, whose time is running out.
The solution to the impasse will come when the US convinces the Arab world that it must sever ties with Hamas and embrace a solution to a Gaza without the terrorist group. If that is what Trump is doing behind the scenes, while publicly warning about all hell breaking loose, then he is being a master strategist.
But if he’s just shooting from the hip, with nothing to back it up, then it’s not being helpful, and it could be very damaging.