United States President Donald Trump on Friday (Feb 14) expressed uncertainty about the hostage release. 

Advertisment

He stated he wasn't sure about what would happen on Saturday, referring to his deadline for Hamas to release hostages held in Gaza since Oct 7, 2023.

This came after he issued an ultimatum earlier in the week, warning that "all hell will break out" if Hamas fails to meet the deadline. The US president reiterated his demand for Hamas to release the hostages.

Speaking about the hostages released last week, Trump said that they were treated very badly by the Palestinian militant group and that they had turned weak after being in captivity.

Advertisment

When asked about his deadline for the release of hostages, Trump said, "I don't know what's going to happen tomorrow at 12 o'clock. It was up to me. I'd take a very hard stance. I can't tell you what Israel is going to do. But, I watched the last people come out and I looked at it before and after the picture. One guy was a big, strong, healthy guy. Could say he was a little bit overweight? He's not overweight anymore. He looks like he just came out of the Holocaust. It looks like a Holocaust picture. I've looked at him for a long time, and they've been treated very badly."

Trump noted that Hamas had initially refused to release hostages, but surprisingly reversed their decision. 

Advertisment

"A young lady came out last week. Her hand was blown off. I mean, literally, her hand was trying to stop a bullet that was headed for her face. She put up her hand. She goes like this and wiped out her fingers and a lot of her hands. Now, I would take a different stance. But it depends, look, it depends on what Bibi (Israel's PM Benjamin Netanyahu) going to do. It depends on what Israel is going to do. But, now, I understand they've totally changed," he said. 

"Hamas has totally changed. They want to release hostages now again. But you have to see this started by them saying we're not going to release the hostages as we said we were. I said, good, you have till 12 o'clock on Saturday, which is tomorrow at 12 o'clock to do it. And we didn't hear anything, then all of a sudden, two days ago, they said, no, we've decided we're going to release the hostages," Trump said.

Also read: Israel warns Hamas must release three live hostages under Gaza ceasefire agreement

Hamas says committed to freeing Gaza hostages 'according to specified timetable'

Palestinian militant group on Thursday (Feb 13) reaffirmed its commitment to releasing Israeli hostages held in Gaza under a timeline set out in a ceasefire deal for the territory.

"Hamas confirms continuation in implementing the agreement in accordance with what was signed, including the exchange of prisoners (Israeli hostages) according to the specified timetable," the group said in a statement. 

It described the ongoing talks in Cairo, aimed at resolving the stalemate in implementing the ceasefire agreement, as "positive" and productive.

The Palestinian militant group, on Monday (Feb 10), announced that it would postpone the next hostage-prisoner swap, scheduled on Saturday, indefinitely citing a series of violations of the ceasefire deal by Israel.

(With input from agencies)