Jacob Magid is The Times of Israel's US bureau chief
Adam Boehler speaks in the Rose Garden of the White House, April 14, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)
US hostage envoy Adam Boehler argues that Hamas walked back from its threat not to release three hostages this weekend as stipulated in the ceasefire agreement with Israel because of President Donald Trump’s threat to rain hell down on Gaza if all remaining captives aren’t freed by Saturday at noon.
“At the end of the day, the president has seen movement, and who knows what would happen if he wasn’t there,” Boehler tells Fox News.
“But it’s not enough,” he clarifies. “We still have seven Americans that are there, and we’re not going to stop until that’s [not] the case. I hope that Hamas is hearing loud and clear from the president of the United States that they’ve got to address that issue immediately.”
Asked if Trump’s threat remains in place, Boehler responds, “That’s the current message of the president United States.”
But the hostage envoy then adds that Trump “reserves the right to change or adjust as he sees fit.”
The 17 hostages slated to be returned in phase one of the Gaza ceasefire deal as of February 8, 2025 after the first five rounds saw 16 captives freed. Row 1 (L-R): Ariel Bibas, Kfir Bibas, Shiri Bibas, Sasha Trufanov; Row 2: Shlomo Mantzur, Ohad Yahalomi, Oded Lifshitz, Tsahi Idan; Row 3: Hisham al-Sayed, Sagui Dekel-Chen, Yair Horn, Omer Wenkert; Row 4: Itzik Elgarat, Eliya Cohen, Avera Mengistu, Tal Shoham, Omer Shem-Tov. (All photos courtesy)
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From the Liveblog of
Friday, February 14, 2025
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