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US President Donald Trump has issued what he called a “last warning” to Hamas to release all remaining hostages held in Gaza.
He has directed a sharply worded message after the White House confirmed he had recently dispatched an envoy for unprecedented direct talks with the militant group.
Trump, in a statement on his Truth Social platform soon after meeting at the White House with eight former hostages, added that he was “sending Israel everything it needs to finish the job”.
“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 said.
“Only sick and twisted people keep bodies, and you are sick and twisted!”
The pointed language from Trump came after the White House said on Thursday (AEDT) that US officials had engaged in “ongoing talks and discussions” with Hamas officials, stepping away from a long-held US policy of not directly engaging in the militant group.
Confirmation of the talks in the Qatari capital of Doha come as the Israel-Hamas ceasefire remains in the balance. It’s the first known direct engagement between the US and Hamas since the State Department designated the group a foreign terrorist organisation in 1997.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt declined to provide detail on the substance of talks, but said Trump had authorised his envoys to “talk to anyone”.
Egyptian and Qatari intermediaries have served as mediators with Hamas for the US and Israel since the group launched its October 7 2023, attack on Israel that sparked the war.
“Look, dialogue and talking to people around the world to do what’s in the best interest of the American people is something that the president … believes is a good-faith effort to do what’s right for the American people,” she said.
Leavitt added Israel has been consulted about the direct engagement with Hamas officials, and noted there are “American lives at stake”.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office offered a terse acknowledgement of the US-Hamas talks.
“Israel has expressed to the United States its position regarding direct talks with Hamas,” the prime minister’s office said.
Israeli officials say about 24 living hostages — including Edan Alexander, a US citizen — as well as the bodies of at least 35 others, are believed to still be held in Gaza.
Adam Boehler, Trump’s nominee to be special envoy for hostage affairs, led the direct talks with Hamas.
The talks, which took place last month, focused mainly on the release of US hostages, and a potential end of the war without Hamas in power in Gaza, according to a Hamas official who was not authorised to comment publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity.
The official added that no progress was made but “the step itself is promising” and more talks are expected. Egyptian and Qatari mediators helped arrange the talks.
The direct engagement comes as the continuation of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire remains uncertain.
Trump has signalled that he has no intention of pushing Netanyahu away from a return to combat if Hamas doesn’t agree to terms of a new ceasefire proposal, which the Israelis have billed as being drafted by US envoy Steve Witkoff.
The new plan would require Hamas to release half its remaining hostages — the militant group’s main bargaining chip — in exchange for a ceasefire extension and a promise to negotiate a lasting truce.
