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The Iranian-backed terror group Hamas has decided to call President-elect Donald Trump’s bluff and abandon negotiations toward a hostage deal, waiting instead to see if it can get a better deal when he takes office January 20.
Trump said at Mar-a-Lago on New Year’s Eve, “They better let the hostages come back soon,” reiterating a threat that there would be “ALL HELL TO PAY” if Hamas did not free its remaining 100 Israeli hostages by his Inauguration.
But Hamas has decided that it would rather take its chances — and evidently believes that Trump will not do anything. The Wall Street Journal reported that Hamas has pulled back from talks that once looked promising:
Cease-fire talks between Palestinian militant group Hamas and the Israeli government have hit an impasse in recent days, Arab mediators said, making any deal unlikely before the end of the Biden administration.
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The parties were considering a 60-day cease-fire period that would see the release of up to 30 hostages being held in Gaza, according to the mediators. In exchange, Israel would set free Palestinian prisoners and allow greater humanitarian aid to flow into Gaza, they said.
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Arab mediators said they expect both sides to come back to the negotiating table after the new administration takes over in Washington. President-elect Donald Trump has said on Truth Social that there would be “hell to pay” in the Middle East if the hostages aren’t released before he assumes office in January.
The sticking points are the precise number of living hostages to be released in the first phase of a deal; the identities of Palestinian terrorists to be released from Israeli prisoners; and whether a deal would bring the war to an end.
Hamas is determined to survive and to return to power in the Middle East. It fired two short-range rockets at Israel at midnight on New Year’s Eve — a weaker barrage than it used to greet 2024, but a sign that it is still committed to war.
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