Hamas said on Thursday that US President Donald Trump's repeated threats against Palestinians constituted support for Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to back out of the Gaza ceasefire and intensify the siege of Gazans.
Trump demanded in a social media post on Wednesday that Hamas "release all of the hostages now, not later," including the remains of dead hostages, "or it is over for you".
His threats came on the day that a Trump envoy held secret talks with Hamas, according to sources who spoke to Reuters, a move that signalled a departure from a decades-long US policy of not negotiating with the Palestinian faction.
Egyptian security officials confirmed on Thursday that talks between the Trump envoy and Hamas had taken place, and were also attended by Egyptian and Qatari mediators.
"Trump's repeated threats against our people represent support to Netanyahu to evade the agreement and tightens the siege and starvation against our people," Hamas spokesperson Abdel-Latif Al Qanoua said in a text message to Reuters.
"The best track to release the remaining Israeli prisoners is by... going into the second phase and compelling it (Israel) to adhere to the agreement signed under the sponsorship of mediators," he said.
The Gaza ceasefire deal which came into effect in January calls for the remaining hostages to be freed in a second phase, during which final plans would be negotiated for an end to the war.
The first phase of the ceasefire ended on Saturday, and Israel has since imposed a total blockade on all goods entering Gaza, demanding that Hamas release remaining hostages without beginning the negotiations to end the war.
Palestinians say the blockade could lead to starvation among the 2.3 million people living in Gaza's ruins.
Trump made his new threats after a White House meeting on Wednesday with a group of hostages who had been released in the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire deal.
"I am sending Israel everything it needs to finish the job, not a single Hamas member will be safe if you don’t do as I say," he said in his social media post. "Also, to the People of Gaza: A beautiful Future awaits, but not if you hold Hostages. If you do, you are dead! Make a smart decision. Release the hostages now, or there will be hell to pay later!"
Gazans criticised Trump's latest remarks on Thursday, which followed his call for Palestinian residents of the tiny coastal enclave to be resettled elsewhere and for the territory to be developed as a "Middle East Riviera".
"(Trump's) work (should be) more to spread peace... by exchanging hostages between the two parties, and not to throw around threats, blame and intimidation at the people of the Gaza Strip, who are suffering... as a result of this war," said Ahmed, a resident of Khan Yunis in the Palestinian enclave. — Reuters
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