US President Donald Trump has threatened "the people of Gaza" in a new "warning" issued on his Truth Social platform.
Trump wrote that he would be sending Israel "everything it needs to finish the job" in a bid to get hostages back, adding that Gaza residents "are dead" if any are not returned.
Trump said on his Truth Social platform: “Release all of the hostages now, not later, and immediately return all of the dead bodies of the people you murdered, or it is over for you.
"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."
He continued: “Only sick and twisted people keep bodies, and you are sick and twisted!”
As of December 2024, Palestinian advocacy group The National Campaign to Retrieve Martyrs’ Bodies said Israel is holding the bodies of 198 Palestinians. Palestinian rights organisations call these holding locations "cemeteries of numbers".
Trump's latest threat came after the White House said on Wednesday that US officials have engaged in “ongoing talks and discussions” with Hamas officials, stepping away from a long-held US policy of not directly engaging in the group.
Confirmation of the talks in the Qatari capital Doha came as the Israel-Hamas ceasefire remains in the balance.
It is the first known direct engagement between the US and Hamas since the State Department designated the group a foreign terrorist organisation in 1997.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt declined to provide details on the substance of the talks but said Trump has authorised his envoys to “talk to anyone”.
Egyptian and Qatari intermediaries have served as mediators with Hamas for the US and Israel since the group launched the attack on Israel on October 7 2023 that sparked the war.
“Look, dialogue and talking to people around the world to do what’s in the best interest of the American people is something that the president has proven is what he believes is (a) good faith, effort to do what’s right for the American people,” she said.
Leavitt added that Israel has been consulted about the direct engagement with Hamas officials, but noted that there are “American lives at stake”.
This comes as Israel’s illegal blockade on humanitarian aid going into Gaza has entered its fifth day. Palestinians are running low on basic supplies reports say.
Israel is accused of war crimes after it stopped the entry of all food and other supplies into Gaza on Sunday. Mediators Egypt and Qatar accused Israel of violating humanitarian law by using starvation as a weapon.
According to recent figures, close to 50,000 Palestinians have died since Israel invaded Gaza in 2023.
Adam Boehler, Trump’s nominee to be special envoy for hostage affairs, participated in the direct talks with Hamas.
The talks, which took place last month, focused primarily on the release of American hostages, and a potential end of the war without Hamas in power in Gaza, according to a Hamas official.
The official added that no progress was made but “the step itself is promising” and more talks are expected. Egyptian and Qatari mediators helped arrange the talks.
The direct engagement comes as continuation of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire remains uncertain.
Trump has signalled that he has no intentions of pushing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu away from a return to combat if Hamas does not agree to terms of a new ceasefire proposal.
The new plan would require Hamas to release half its remaining hostages – the militant group’s main bargaining chip – in exchange for a ceasefire extension and a promise to negotiate a lasting truce.
Israel made no mention of releasing more Palestinian prisoners – a key component of the first phase.
