An Israel Defense Forces (IDF) official has said that the Israeli military does not foresee an imminent victory in its war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip after U.S. President-elect Donald Trump issued a fiery demand for the release of hostages held by the Palestinian militant group before he came to office.
Trump warned in a post to his Truth Social platform on Monday that "there will be ALL HELL TO PAY in the Middle East, and for those in charge who perpetrated these atrocities against Humanity" if the remaining captives seized by Hamas during their attack on Israel in October of last year were not freed before his January 20 inauguration.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomed the message on Tuesday. However, in response to Newsweek's question at a virtual press briefing the following day, an IDF official signaled that achieving the Israeli premier's three wartime objectives was not yet around the corner.
"The [first] goal of the war was to dismantle Hamas' military capabilities, which we've come a long way in. The second goal was making sure our civilians return to the communities in the western Negev, and the third was bringing home hostages," the IDF official said.
"We started this war with 251 hostages. There are still 101 hostages," they continued. "So, in that regard, there's still a way to go, and we keep operating until those goals are achieved."
"It's our job to make sure that we achieve progress in the shortest time possible," the official said, "but there's a lot of factors in that," with some periods seeing more success than others.
"Every single one of those hostages is a world of its own," they said, "and we're operating to bring them all home."
U.S. President Joe Biden's administration has undergone a new effort to revive ceasefire talks, with the venue now moved to Egypt after a 60-day truce was secured between the IDF and the Hezbollah movement, an ally of Hamas, in Lebanon.
"We are focused on using every ounce of energy and every time that we have available to bring this war to a close, to do everything we can to address the humanitarian situation in Gaza and everything we can to make sure that the hostages can return home and bring this war to a conclusion and start having a serious diplomatic conversation of what we want the region to look like the day after," State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said Tuesday in response to a question regarding Trump's post.
"That's what we're focused on," Miller added. "There's only one president at a time."
Still, Trump had warned in his post on Monday that it was "all talk and no action" on the issue, signaling a more forceful approach from his upcoming administration.
In a statement shared with Newsweek on Tuesday, Hamas spokesperson and Political Bureau member Basem Naim responded directly to Trump's comments, saying the group had already announced its support for the ceasefire proposal first unveiled by Biden in May but that Netanyahu had sought to block a breakthrough.
"Since the beginning of this genocide, Hamas has publicly announced and been active in seeking a permanent ceasefire to end the Israeli aggression against our people; a deal which would have included a full prisoners' exchange," Naim said.
"However, Netanyahu has sabotaged all these attempts," he added. "At many times, we were extremely close to signing on a deal, but due to his savage actions and decisions, these deals broke down."
In casting blame on the Israeli leader, Naim said that "Hamas understands that Trump's message is actually directed first towards Netanyahu and his government," which "need to end their evil game by using negotiations as a cover for their personal political ideological interests."
He reaffirmed Hamas' commitment to Biden's three-phase deal, which won the backing of United Nations Security Council resolution 2735 in June and the nominal backing of both warring parties in July. Since then, however, both sides have accused one another of revising the conditions to meet their respective interests.
"We are looking forward to the day in which we see an end of this genocide against our people, their free return back to their homes all over the Gaza Strip, and prisoners from both sides freed and enjoying living amongst their families again," Naim said. "Our people are eager to secure a better future for their children, full of hope, dignity and prosperity."
As the IDF continues to clash with Hamas in Gaza, the fate of the remaining hostages remains unknown, with a growing number of abductees believed to have died while in captivity.
Hours before Trump's ultimatum on Monday, the IDF announced that one of seven U.S. nationals believed to be held in Gaza was determined to have been killed during the initial Hamas-led attack in October 2023.
The following day, after more than a year of accusing Israel of inadvertently killing hostages in air and ground operations in Gaza, Hamas officially stated that "33 Zionist prisoners were killed, and the traces of some were lost because of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's actions and obstinacy."
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