Trump says hostages will only come back when Hamas is “confronted and destroyed”

President Donald Trump said on Monday that the remaining Israeli hostages will only be returned once the Hamas “confronted and destroyed” because the Gaza-based terrorist group cited alleged progress in talks during the ceasefire.

The United States and Israel withdrawn from its Qatar negotiators last month, with Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, at the time that Hamas had demonstrated a “lack of desire to reach a cease-fire in Gaza” and probably did not negotiate in good faith.

“We will only see the return of the hostages remaining only when Hamas is confronted and destroyed !!!” Trump wrote on Truth Social Monday morning.

“The sooner it takes place, the best will be successful,” wrote Trump. “Remember, it was I who negotiated and obtained hundreds of hostages released and released in Israel (and in America!). It was I who finished 6 wars, in just 6 months. I am the one who erased Iran’s nuclear installations. Play to win, or do not play at all! Thank you for your attention to this affair!”

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President Donald Trump speaks during an event at Kennedy Center on August 13, 2025 in Washington, DC (Images Andrew Harnik / Getty)

The message was before Trump’s meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European White House leaders on Monday while trying to resolve a separate peace agreement with Russia.

Meanwhile, in the Middle East, Hamas supported by Iran said on Monday that it had accepted a new proposal from Arab mediators for a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip which would still need Israel’s approval.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in response that Hamas was under “enormous pressure” after Israel announced his intention to reoccupy the city of Gaza and other highly populated areas after the cease-fire negotiations were again blocked in Qatar last month.

“I hear media reports – and from them, you can draw a conclusion: Hamas is under enormous pressure,” Netanyahu said in a Hebrew video declaration translated by Fox News.

Netanyahu also said on Monday that he had visited the Gaza division, where he had met the command staff of the Israeli defense forces and expressed “a great appreciation for the great achievements of the FDI in the Renaissance War – the war against seven fronts”. The Prime Minister said that he was “deeply impressed by the spirit of combat and the determination to finish the defeat of Hamas and to cause the release of all our hostages”.

He said that he also spoke to the Minister of Defense and the chief of staff “of our plans concerning Gaza City and the completion of our missions”.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem on August 13, 2025. (Ronen Zvulun / Pool / AFP via Getty Images)

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An informed diplomat of negotiations with Hamas told Fox News that “by the pressure on Hamas to accept, Qatari and the Egyptian mediators obtained a breakthrough which preserves 98% of Witkoff’s proposal, which the Israeli party had already accepted.”

“The mediators were able to obtain this result despite the events and recent developments towards a new escalation,” said the diplomat. “This step marks the start of the road to a complete solution.”

The Egyptian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Badr Abdelatty, said that the mediators “exercise vast efforts” to relaunch an American proposal for a 60-day ceasefire, during which certain hostages would be released and that the parties would negotiate a lasting ceasefire and the return of the rest. He spoke during a visit to Rafah Crossing in Egypt with Gaza, who has not worked since Israel seized the Palestinian part in May 2024. He was accompanied by Mohammad Mustafa, the Prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority.

Abdeatty said that Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman Al Thani had joined the talks, including the senior Hamas, Khalil al-Hayya, arrived in Cairo last week. He said they were open to other ideas, including a complete case that would publish all hostages at the same time.

Bassem Naim, a senior Hamas official, later told the Associated Press that the terrorist group had accepted the proposal introduced by the mediators, without developing.

Tel Aviv demonstrators, on August 17, 2025, demanded that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu obtained an agreement with Hamas to release the remaining hostages. (Chen Junqing / Xinhua via Getty Images)

An Egyptian official, addressing the AD on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive talks, said that the proposal includes changes to the withdrawal by Israel from his forces and guarantees of negotiations on a lasting cease-fire during the initial break. The official said that he was almost identical to a previous proposal accepted by Israel, who has not yet joined the latest discussions.

Netanyahu promised to continue the war until all the hostages have returned and Hamas is disarmed and maintaining a sustainable security control over Gaza.

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Hamas said that it would only release the remaining hostages exchange for a sustainable ceasefire and an Israeli withdrawal.

Yonat Fring of Fox News and the Associated Press contributed to this report.