Tammy Bruce, the new spokeswoman for the US State Department, said in her first press conference at the State Department building since the administration of President Donald Trump took office on January 20, that all the US president did in his message threatening Hamas and the Palestinian people was to confirm the fixed US policy.
In response to a question from a Al-Quds newspaper correspondent regarding the US President’s threat to the people of Gaza with death if he continued to hold the hostages, while the White House announced on the same day that its envoy for hostage affairs, Adam Boehler, had met with senior Hamas officials in Qatar to discuss the issue of the detainees, and how she explains that, Bruce said: “President Trump has not changed or altered anything in his statements regarding Hamas, and he has stuck to this position regardless of whether the platform from which he speaks is his meetings in the White House with journalists, his speeches, or his tweets on social media platforms. His position is consistent and represents US policy towards what Hamas has done, this terrorist movement, and what it is doing in Gaza.”
The official spokeswoman added: "The president declared from the beginning that there is no place for Hamas in Gaza, and that the priority lies in releasing the unjustly held hostages."
President Trump had sent a strongly worded message to Hamas threatening to unleash hell on them if they did not immediately release the hostages. He also issued a blunt warning to the people of Gaza, saying: “Also, to the people of Gaza: A beautiful future awaits you, but not if you take hostages. If you do, you are dead! Make a smart decision. Release the hostages now, or there will be hell to pay later.”
Regarding the efforts and plans of the President's envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, Bruce responded to the question of the Jerusalem correspondent by saying that she does not have a specific time for his return to the region.
Witkoff had asked Israel to maintain the ceasefire until he returned to the area.
In turn, Witkoff, US President Donald Trump's special envoy to the Middle East, described the situation in Gaza as "dangerous" on Thursday, considering the idea of rebuilding the Strip within 5 years "unrealistic."
In a press conference at the White House, the US envoy said that the situation in Gaza is "dangerous," especially for children, and therefore the idea of rebuilding the Strip within 5 years is "unrealistic."
In response to a question about the possibility of moving to the second stage or extending the first stage of the ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, Witkov said: “We do not care much about the names. What we are focusing on is reaching a solution and recovering the prisoners from the Strip.”
Envoy Witkoff said that the US discussions with Hamas activists came recently and that the message to the movement was that the United States wanted the hostages returned.
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Urgent: Washington: President Trump in his message on "Truth Social" reiterated the declared American policy