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President-elect Donald Trump has issued a warning regarding the potential consequences if the cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas fails to materialize as planned. He cautioned that “all hell will break out” if the agreement, scheduled to commence on Sunday morning, collapses.
A mere two days before his return to the White House, Trump was questioned about his expectations for the release of hostages held by the terrorist group as part of the three-stage accord agreed upon by both parties earlier in the week. The initial phase of the agreement stipulates the liberation of the first captives on Sunday afternoon.
“We’re going to see very soon, and it better hold,” Trump told NBC News.

Trump shared with the outlet that he had told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to “‘keep doing what you have to do.’”
“‘This has to end. We want it to end, but to keep doing what has to be done,’” he told the Israeli leader.
He added the two are set to meet “fairly shortly,” but declined to discuss further details.
US Representative Nicole Malliotakis (R-Staten Island/Brooklyn) expressed a similar sentiment to Trump’s warning, emphasizing the importance for Israel and Hamas to adhere to the terms of the initial phase. This phase entails the release of 33 hostages by the terror group over a six-week truce period, in exchange for the liberation of over 1,900 Palestinian prisoners and detainees.
“President Trump made it clear that ‘all hell will break out if those hostages aren’t back’ and it is in the best interest of all involved that all hostages be released and the terms of the cease-fire be met,” she told The Post.

Last week, both outgoing President Biden and Trump took credit after the news emerged Israel and Hamas had come to an agreement on the three-phase deal, which the current administration had been pushing for months to no avail.
Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, has been credited as crucial in the breakthrough.
One senior Biden official previously told Reuters Witkoff’s meeting with Netanyahu last week effectively “shifted everything into motion.”
The tenuous deal, however, was not popular with all Israelis.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotric, who voted against the deal, slammed the accord as “terrible” and said he couldn’t serve in a government that “will stop the war and not continue until complete victory over Hamas,” according to the Times of Israel.
Israel’s far-right Otzma Yehudit party, led by National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, announced Saturday several of its ministers would tender letters of resignation Sunday from the nation’s government, according to The Jerusalem Post.
A Trump spokesperson didn’t respond to requests for comment.
Additional reporting by Jon Levine