President-elect Donald Trump demanded on Monday the immediate release of Israeli hostages in Gaza via Truth Social, announcing there would be “HELL TO PAY” if they weren’t freed before his Jan. 20 inauguration.
Trump’s emphatic warning came after confirmation of U.S.-Israeli citizen Omer Neutra’s death, shown in footage of Hamas fighters pulling him and others from a burning tank during the Oct. 7 attack.
Hamas also released a recent hostage video featuring captured Israeli soldier Edan Alexander. In the video, Alexander, under apparent duress, appeals to Trump to negotiate the hostages’ release.
Of 251 total hostages taken following Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack, 97 remain in Gaza, with 35 confirmed dead.