U.S. Special Envoy for Hostage Affairs Adam Boehler warned Hamas not to test President Donald Trump as the deadline for the militant group to release the next round of hostages approaches this weekend.
“We have seven Americans right now held by Hamas. It’s a terror organization, and that’s unacceptable,” Boehler said Wednesday on “The Story.”
Hamas announced earlier this week that it would postpone the next planned release of hostages, alleging Israel violated the terms of the ceasefire agreement.
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Israeli hostages Or Levy, Eli Sharabi, and Ohad Ben Ami being handed over to the International Committee of the Red Cross by the fighters of the Palestinian resistance group Hamas under a ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement with Israel, in Deir al Balah, Gaza, on February 8, 2025. (Ashraf Amra/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Trump encouraged Israel to cancel the ceasefire if all hostages aren’t released by noon on Saturday.
“I’d say they ought to be returned by 12 o’clock on Saturday, and if they’re not returned — all of them, not in drips and drabs, not two and one and three and four and two. Saturday at 12 o’clock, and after that, I would say, all hell is going to break out,” he told reporters.
Numbers compiled by Fox News indicate there are 76 hostages still being held in the Gaza Strip, including at least six Americans.
Edan Alexander and Sagui Dekel-Chen are believed to be the only two Americans still alive in captivity. Hamas holds the bodies of the four other Americans who were declared dead in either 2023 or 2024.
Supporters of Israelis held hostage in the Gaza Strip since October 2023 lift placards and flags during a rally calling to complete the exchange deal with the Palestinian Hamas group to bring the remaining captives back, in front of the prime minister’s office in Jerusalem on February 11, 2025. (MENAHEM KAHANA/AFP via Getty Images)
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“I fully believe the president in following through on the ‘what else’ because he’s done that multiple times before,” Boehler told Fox News anchor Martha McCallum. “I think Iran found that out the hard way in our prior administration, and if Hamas wants to test and wants to test that will, I think it’s a big mistake.”
He suggested the U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organization take actions to “make an impression on the president.”
Hamas fighters stand in formation as Palestinians gather on a street to watch the handover of three Israeli hostages to a Red Cross team in Deir el-Balah, central Gaza, on February 8, 2025. (Majdi Fathi/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
“Hamas is in a position as a terror organization where they’re deciding what happens not only to [the] hostages, but to the entire group of the people that live in Gaza, the people that live in the West Bank. They’re the reasons that their lives are being destroyed,” Boehler added.
“We need to expunge this threat, and I think they need to come forward and be constructive, or it’s going to be a real, real problem. So, I think this is Hamas’ decision as a terror organization. We’re just following through on what we said.”
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wrote on X, formerly Twitter, that the ceasefire agreement will end, and his country will return to fighting if the hostages aren’t released as scheduled by Hamas.