ISLAMABAD: United States (US) President-elect Donald Trump has demanded Hamas to release Israeli captives held in Gaza, by the time he enters office, warning again that “all hell will break out” otherwise, Al-Jazeera reported.
CNBC reported that Donald Trump reissued his warning as Steve Witkoff, his designated envoy to the Middle East, told media persons that there has been “a lot of progress” in talks in Doha, Qatar.
Witkoff stated that he expected to fly back to Doha on Wednesday morning.
According to Western media reports, Hamas on Monday released a list with the names of 34 captives that the group said it is willing to release in the first phase of a possible truce agreement with Israel.
49 Palestinians killed
The development comes as Israeli forces killed at least 49 Palestinians in Gaza over the past day, according to the local media.
AFP cited Gaza health officials as saying a wave of Israeli strikes hit the territory’s southern district of Khan Yunis on Tuesday evening, killing a dozen people, seven of them children.
At least five strikes targeted parts of Khan Yunis, including one in the Al-Mawasi area where thousands of displaced Palestinians are living in tents along the coast, according to AFP.
Four children were killed when a drone strike hit their tent in the Al-Mawasi area, the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry reported.
Israel’s genocide in Gaza
A witness told AFP that several tents caught fire from the strike, which also wounded more than 20 people.
Five people, including three children, were killed and several wounded in a strike on a house in Khan Yunis, Gaza’s civil defence agency said.
Two people were killed when a strike hit a car in Khan Yunis, while another two were killed when an apartment was hit.
According to Al-Jazeera Israel’s genocide in Gaza has killed at least 45,885 Palestinians and injured 109,196 since October 7, 2023.
