Trump tells ‘sick and twisted’ Hamas to free all hostages now ‘or it is over for you’
US president hosts 8 released hostages in Oval Office, promises to get the rest out, then issues ‘last warning’ to Hamas, tells its leaders to leave Gaza, says ‘People of Gaza’ who hold hostages ‘are DEAD’
Jacob Magid is The Times of Israel's US bureau chief
US President Donald Trump on Wednesday issued a new ultimatum to Hamas, demanding that the terror group immediately release all remaining hostages or be destroyed.
“‘Shalom Hamas’ means Hello and Goodbye – You can choose,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “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.”
Trump’s post was uploaded shortly after he met with a group of eight released hostages in the Oval Office, and amid an apparent impasse in negotiations between Israel and Hamas after the first phase of a fragile ceasefire ended Saturday.
“We’ll get them out,” he told the group of eight freed hostages, referring to hostages still held in Gaza.
“You were our hope when we were there, and now you’re their hope,” one of the eight, Naama Levy, told him.
The White House later released footage of part of the meeting, and of some of the released hostages speaking separately to camera. The full meeting reportedly lasted almost 30 minutes, and the released hostages reportedly detailed to the president the appalling circumstances of their captivity.
President Trump met with eight released hostages from Gaza, listening to their heartbreaking stories. They expressed gratitude for his unwavering efforts to bring them & others home.
Hamas' actions have inflicted immense suffering, AND THEIR REIGN OF TERROR MUST BE STOPPED.???????????????? pic.twitter.com/Sy0G3fwSqL
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) March 6, 2025
Trump has issued multiple ultimatums to Hamas over the past several months with limited success. Before his inauguration, he demanded Hamas release all of the hostages or there would be “all hell to pay.” The terror group did not release all of them, but did agree to a multiphase ceasefire deal with Israel that secured 33 hostages during the first stage.
Last month, after Hamas threatened not to release a batch of those hostages, citing Israeli violations of the agreement, Trump issued another similar ultimatum demanding that all of them be released at noon the following Saturday. Hamas didn’t agree to release all of the hostages, but it did free the three it was scheduled to let go.
“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,” he warned Wednesday.
Trump has advanced over $11 billion in weapons sales to Israel since taking office, including a shipment of 2,000-pound bombs that the Biden administration withheld due to concerns they’d lead to civilian deaths in Gaza.
"'Shalom Hamas' means Hello and Goodbye – You can choose. 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… pic.twitter.com/88EjVAyWAe
— President Donald J. Trump (@POTUS) March 5, 2025
“This is your last warning! For the leadership, now is the time to leave Gaza, while you still have a chance,” Trump declared.
He noted that he had just met with the former hostages, “whose lives you have destroyed… Only sick and twisted people keep bodies, and you are sick and twisted!”
“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,” Trump added.
‘They will get the job done’
Trump’s ultimatum came after several roller-coaster days for the hostage families.
As phase one of the deal ended on Saturday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office issued a statement announcing that it accepted what it described as a proposal from Trump’s Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff to extend the ceasefire under new terms than the sides had agreed to in January.
That deal stipulated that Israel and Hamas would hold negotiations regarding the terms of phase two, which envisions the release of all remaining hostages in exchange for a permanent end to the war and a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.
While Israel signed onto these terms, Netanyahu has long insisted that he would not end the war before Hamas’s military and governing capabilities have been dismantled. Accordingly, he largely refused to hold negotiations regarding phase two.
The “Witkoff proposal” he unveiled on Saturday evening envisions the extension of the ceasefire through Ramadan and Passover, which ends on April 19. During this period, the remaining hostages would be released in two batches — one on the first day of the extension and the other at the end, pending agreements on a permanent ceasefire.
Hamas quickly rejected the proposal, insisting it was only prepared to release hostages through the original framework that the sides reached in January. Israel, in turn, has threatened to resume fighting and on Sunday announced that it was blocking all humanitarian aid from entering Gaza moving forward.
While an Arab diplomat told The Times of Israel that the proposal was actually “more of an Israeli offer,” the Trump administration quickly got behind it and issued a statement backing Israel’s stance in the hostage negotiations.
Also on Sunday, Sharon Sharabi announced that his brother and recently released hostage Eli would be flying to Washington this week to meet Trump, who had been shown clips of an interview he gave about the conditions of his captivity.
At that point, though, such a meeting had not yet been finalized, a source familiar with the matter told The Times of Israel. Nonetheless, Sharabi flew to Washington on Monday and was accompanied by seven other released hostages: Iair Horn, Omer Shem Tov, Keith Siegel, Aviva Siegel, Naama Levy, Doron Steinbrecher and Noa Argamani.
While anticipation that a meeting would take place on Tuesday peaked, one did not take place. Instead, many in the group were invited to attend Trump’s address to a joint session of Congress, leading to further expectations that they would receive a shout-out during the speech.
But Trump only ended up devoting a sentence to the issue, saying, “We are bringing back our hostages from Gaza” before moving on to other issues in a speech largely focused on domestic policy.
As the group waited for their meeting with Trump on Wednesday morning, news broke that his administration has been secretly holding direct negotiations with Hamas aimed at securing the release of American hostages in Gaza and subsequently bringing an end to the war.
The White House said it consulted with Israel on the matter, but Netanyahu’s office did not appear to agree with the move, issuing a terse statement that said “Israel has expressed to the United States its position regarding direct talks with Hamas.”
Those talks are being led by Trump’s hostage envoy Adam Boehler, who is currently in Doha, an Arab diplomat told The Times of Israel, adding that Boehler is coordinating with Witkoff, who is in Washington.
Wiktoff met with the released hostages in the early afternoon and informed the group that they would meet with the US president shortly thereafter.
President hosts released hostages in Oval Office
When that meeting finally came, the eight released hostages lined up in the Oval Office in front of the Resolute Desk where Trump sat, and offered brief words of gratitude to the president, while urging him to continue his efforts to secure the release of the remaining 59 hostages.
“You’ve been sent by god to release them. You can really help. You have the power to do it,” said Omer Shem Tov in footage from the meeting that was released to the public.
“You were our hope when we were there, and now you’re their hope,” said Naama Levy. “Once you were elected, we heard that you want to do everything to make a deal as soon as possible… You gave us hope.”
“So you didn’t think until I came along — you didn’t think you were going to get out?” Trump asked the group. Several of the hostages replied, “No.”
“Well, we said, ‘You better let us have those people back, you better let them out.’ We did say that and something happened, right. Now we’ve got to get the rest out,” Trump said, referring to his ultimatum last month.
הנשיא טראמפ פגש את השורדים מהשבי בבית הלבן: pic.twitter.com/RppTHSOOgk
— יונה לייבזון yuna leibzon (@YunaLeibzon) March 5, 2025
“Please do it again,” said Eli Sharabi, who presented Trump with a cartoon showing a picture of Holocaust survivors at a Nazi concentration camp with the caption “Never again,” beside a photo of an emaciated Sharabi from his own release last month and the caption “Again.”
The hostages also gifted Trump with a plaque that reads, “Whoever saves one life saves the world entire.”
“Thank you all. We’re working on it very hard,” Trump said, as each hostage approached to shake his hand. “We’ll do the best we can… Horrible stories. Not even believable… We’ll get them out. Watch. We’ll get them out.”
He told several of the freed hostages to take care of themselves as they thanked him and left the Oval Office.
To Shem Tov, the last to thank him, Trump said: “You’ve got a good future. I’m telling you.”
Shem Tov left with a broad smile.
In a statement issued after the meeting, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said, “President Trump took time to meet with eight of the released hostages from Gaza. The president listened intently to their heartbreaking stories. The hostages thanked President Trump for his steadfast efforts to bring all of the hostages home.”
According to a readout from the released hostages, Keith Seigel told Trump and Witkoff that they had made a deal possible.
“We urged them to continue their enormous efforts. They have done so much. We trust them, and we know they will get the job done to get all the rest of the 59 remaining hostages held in Gaza back to their families, back to Israel,” he was quoted as having said.
Sharabi said that he asked Trump “to ensure that the 59 hostages still being held will be released through an agreement for their return as soon as possible,” and thanked the US president and Witkoff for being “committed to this goal.”
