Vance: Allowing Israel to dismantle Hamas’s last battalions is what Trump means by ‘all hell’

Jacob Magid is The Times of Israel's US bureau chief

US Vice President-elect JD Vance speaks to Fox News in an interview aired on January 12, 2025. (Screenshot, used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)
US Vice President-elect JD Vance speaks to Fox News in an interview aired on January 12, 2025. (Screenshot, used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

US Vice President-elect JD Vance appears to reveal the practical implication of Donald Trump’s threat that “all hell will break loose” if the hostages are not released by January 20.

“It means enabling the Israelis to knock out the final couple of battalions of Hamas and their leadership. It means very aggressive sanctions and financial penalties on those who are supporting terrorist organizations in the Middle East. It means actually doing the job of American leadership,” Vance tells ‘FOX News Sunday.’

The IDF indeed states that it has yet to dismantle the final two of Hamas’s 24 battalions in Gaza, but that is because they are believed to be holding many of the remaining 98 hostages in central Gaza. Accordingly, the IDF has avoided operating there en masse, so as not to risk the lives of the hostages, given that a number of them have been accidentally killed in IDF operations or were executed by their Hamas captors when they feared Israeli troops were approaching.

Vance does not elaborate on the financial sanctions that the incoming Trump administration has planned against Hamas, but the Biden administration has already levied a host of sanctions against the terror group and has issued arrest warrants for several of its leaders.

The incoming vice president asserts Trump’s threat of “all hell to pay” in the Mideast if the hostages are not released is what sparked recent progress in the ongoing hostage talks.

“We’re hopeful there’s going to be a deal that struck toward the very end of Biden’s administration — maybe the last day or two,” Vance says. “But regardless of when that deal is struck, it will be because people are terrified that there are going to be consequences for Hamas.”

Most Popular