President Donald Trump said on Monday that the remaining Israeli hostages will only be sent back if Hamas is “confronted and destroyed”, as the terrorist group of alleged progress-based progress in Gaza called in a current ceasefire.
The US and Israel took their negotiators from Qatar last month, in which the special envoy Steve Witkoff from Trump said that Hamas showed a “lack of desire to reach a ceasefiring -fire in Gaza” and probably not negotiated in good faith.
“We will only see the return of the remaining hostages when Hamas is confronted and destroyed !!!” Trump wrote on Monday morning on Truth Social.
“The sooner this takes place, the better the opportunities for success will be,” Trump wrote. “Don’t forget that I was the one who negotiated and hundreds of hostages released and released in Israel (and America!). I was the one who finished 6 wars in just 6 months. I was the one who erased the nuclear facilities of Iran. Play to win, or don’t play at all! Thank you at all!”
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President Donald Trump speaks during an event in the Kennedy Center on August 13, 2025 in Washington, DC (Andrew Harnik/Getty images)
The message occurred at the meeting of Trump with the Ukrainian President Volodyymyr Zenskyy and European leaders in the White House on Monday while trying to iron a separate peace agreement with Russia.
In the meantime, Iran supported by Iran said on Monday that it has accepted a new proposal from Arabic mediators for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip that would still need the approval of Israel.
The Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in response that Hamas was under “enormous pressure” after Israel had announced plans to re -occupy Gaza City and other heavily populated areas after the negotiations of the ceaseses -furen after the negotiations of Stakes -the Fires who are again in Qatar.
Netanyahu also said on Monday that he visited the Gaza division, where he met the Senior Israel Defense Forces Command, and expressed “enormous appreciation for the great achievements of the IDF in the war of rebirth -the war on seven fronts.” The prime minister said that he was “deeply impressed by the Vechtgeest and determination to complete Hamas’ defeat and to bring about the release of all our hostages.”
He said he also spoke with the Minister of Defense and Staff Chef “about our plans regarding Gaza City and the completion of our missions.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem on August 13, 2025. (Ronen Zvulun/Pool/AFP via Getty images)
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“The mediators were able to secure this result, despite recent events and developments that are on their way to further escalation,” the diplomat said. “This step marks the start of the road to an extensive solution.”
The Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty said that mediators “make extensive efforts” to breathe new life into an American proposal for a cease-fire of 60 days, in which some hostages would be released and the parties would negotiate a permanent ceasefire and the return of the rest. During a visit to the Rafah intersection of Egypt, he spoke with Gaza, which did not function since Israel seized the Palestinian side in May 2024. He was accompanied by Mohammad Mustafa, the Prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority.
Abdelatty said that the Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman had already joined the conversations, including Senior Hamas leader Khalil Al-Hayya, who arrived in Cairo last week. He said they are open to other ideas, including an extensive deal that would release all hostages at the same time.
Bassem Naim, a high Hamas officer, later told The Associated Press that the terrorist group had accepted the proposal introduced by the mediators without working out.
Tel Aviv demonstrators on August 17, 2025, demand that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will close a deal with Hamas to release the remaining hostages. (Chen Junqing/Xinhua via Getty Images)
An Egyptian officer, who speaks, on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive conversations, said that the proposal includes changes in the withdrawal of Israel about his armed forces and guarantees for negotiations about a permanent stopping -fires during the first late late. The officer said it is almost identical to an earlier proposal accepted by Israel, which has not yet been connected to the latest conversations.
Netanyahu has sworn to continue the war until all hostages are returned and Hamas has been disarmed and to retain permanent safety control over Gaza.
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Hamas has said that it will only release the remaining hostages in exchange for a permanent stop -the fire and an Israeli withdrawal.
