Trump: ‘All Hell is Going to Break Out’ if Remaining Hostages Aren’t Released by Hamas

US President Donald Trump while joined by Howard Lutnick (R), chief executive officer of Cantor Fitzgerald LP and US commerce secretary nominee during  an executive order signing in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, USA, on 10 February 2025. EPA/AL DRAGO / POOL
US President Donald Trump while joined by Howard Lutnick (R), chief executive officer of Cantor Fitzgerald LP and US commerce secretary nominee during an executive order signing in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, USA, on 10 February 2025. EPA/AL DRAGO / POOL
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Trump: ‘All Hell is Going to Break Out’ if Remaining Hostages Aren’t Released by Hamas

US President Donald Trump while joined by Howard Lutnick (R), chief executive officer of Cantor Fitzgerald LP and US commerce secretary nominee during  an executive order signing in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, USA, on 10 February 2025. EPA/AL DRAGO / POOL
US President Donald Trump while joined by Howard Lutnick (R), chief executive officer of Cantor Fitzgerald LP and US commerce secretary nominee during an executive order signing in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, USA, on 10 February 2025. EPA/AL DRAGO / POOL

US President Donald Trump said Monday that the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas should be canceled if the Palestinian group doesn’t release all the remaining hostages it is holding in Gaza by midday Saturday.
In comments to reporters as he signed a series of executive orders, Trump said it was ultimately up to Israel. But he warned that “all hell is going to break out” if the remaining hostages aren’t released, adding that he feared many were dead.
“I’m speaking for myself,” Trump said. “Israel can override it.”

Hamas announced on Monday it would stop releasing Israeli hostages until further notice over what it said were Israeli violations of the ceasefire agreement.

In reply, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Hamas had violated the ceasefire agreement with its announcement and that he had instructed the military to prepare at the highest level of readiness in Gaza and to defend Israeli communities.

Abu Obaida, a spokesperson for Hamas' military wing, said that since the ceasefire came into effect on January 19, Israel had delayed allowing displaced Palestinians from returning to northern Gaza, targeted Gazans with military shelling and gunfire and had stopped relief materials entering the territory.



Syrian Returns from Lebanon to Start under UN-backed Plan

FILE PHOTO: A Syrian refugee walks near tents, at an informal settlement, in Al-Marj, in Bekaa, Lebanon April 5, 2023. REUTERS/Emilie Madi/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A Syrian refugee walks near tents, at an informal settlement, in Al-Marj, in Bekaa, Lebanon April 5, 2023. REUTERS/Emilie Madi/File Photo
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Syrian Returns from Lebanon to Start under UN-backed Plan

FILE PHOTO: A Syrian refugee walks near tents, at an informal settlement, in Al-Marj, in Bekaa, Lebanon April 5, 2023. REUTERS/Emilie Madi/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A Syrian refugee walks near tents, at an informal settlement, in Al-Marj, in Bekaa, Lebanon April 5, 2023. REUTERS/Emilie Madi/File Photo

Thousands of Syrian refugees are set to return from Lebanon this week under the first, UN-backed plan providing financial incentives, after Syria's new rulers said all citizens were welcome home despite deep war damage and security concerns.

Returning Syrians will be provided with $100 each in Lebanon and $400 per family upon arrival in Syria, Lebanese Social Affairs Minister Haneen Sayed said. Transport is also covered and fees have been waived by border authorities, she said.

"I think it's a good and important start. We have discussed and are coordinating this with our Syrian counterparts and I think the numbers will increase in the coming weeks," Sayed told Reuters. A Syrian interior ministry spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.

More than 6 million Syrians fled as refugees after conflict broke out in Syria in 2011, with most heading to Türkiye, Lebanon and Jordan. Lebanon has the highest concentration of refugees per capita in the world, hosting about 1.5 million Syrians among a population of about 4 million Lebanese.

Some 11,000 have registered to return from Lebanon in the first week, and the government targets between 200,000 and 400,000 returns this year under the plan, Sayed said.

The Lebanese government is focused on informal tented settlements in the country, where some 200,000 refugees live, she added, and may provide Syrian breadwinners who stay in Lebanon with work permits for sectors such as agriculture and construction if their families return to Syria.

UN agencies previously viewed Syria as unsafe for large-scale returns due to uncertainty over security and persecution by the government of Bashar al-Assad, who was toppled in December.

That has changed.

Since taking over, the new Syrian government has said all Syrians are welcome home. A UN survey from earlier this year showed nearly 30% of refugees living in Middle Eastern countries wanted to go back, up from 2% when Assad was in power.

"While the situation in Syria continues to rapidly evolve, (UN refugee agency) UNHCR considers the current context a positive opportunity for larger numbers of Syrian refugees to return home, or to begin considering return in a realistic and durable way," Ivo Freijsen, UNHCR Representative in Lebanon, told Reuters.

As of the end of June 2025, UNHCR estimated that over 628,000 Syrians had crossed back to Syria via neighboring countries since 8 December 2024, including 191,000 via Lebanon.