President Donald Trump took to his Truth Social platform on Monday afternoon to level a new threat at the terrorist group Hamas.
"I have just read a News Report that Hamas has moved the hostages above ground to use them as human shields against Israel’s ground offensive," wrote Trump. "I hope the Leaders of Hamas know what they’re getting into if they do such a thing. This is a human atrocity, the likes of which few people have ever seen before."
"Don’t let this happen or, ALL 'BETS' ARE OFF. RELEASE ALL HOSTAGES NOW!" Trump added.
Hamas' brutal attack on Israeli civilians on Oct. 7, and subsequent capture of huge numbers of hostages, was the catalyst for Israel's attack on Gaza, which has seen the decimation of Hamas' leadership, but also thousands of Palestianian deaths, many more families displaced, and an unclear end to the war in sight.
The Biden administration largely backed up Israel on this effort, though former President Joe Biden grew frustrated with civilian deaths and halted shipments of certain heavy-duty munitions later in the war.
The Trump administration came in vowing to be even more supportive of Israel, with Trump even fantasizing about redeveloping an ethnically cleansed Gaza as a complex of vacation resorts, but Trump too has started to lose his patience with Israel's carelessness, reportedly yelling at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on a phone call over the country's strike on Hamas leaders in Qatar, calling it an "unacceptable" attack on a third-party ally.