US President-elect Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with House Republicans at the Hyatt Regency hotel in Washington, DC, US on Nov. 13, 2024. Photo: ALLISON ROBBERT/Pool via REUTERS

While speaking to reporters on Tuesday night, US President-elect Donald Trump again called for the release of the remaining hostages in Gaza, issuing another veiled threat to the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas ahead of his return to the White House.

A press gaggle peppered Trump with questions outside of his annual New Year’s Eve gala at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. One reporter asked Trump about his previous comments that Hamas will have “hell to pay” if a ceasefire and hostage-release between the terrorist group and Israel is not successfully brokered before his inauguration. 

“We’re going to see what happens,” Trump said. “I’ll put it this way: They better let the hostages come back soon.”

On Oct. 7 of last year, Hamas-led Palestinian terrorists murdered 1,200 people and kidnapped 251 hostages to Gaza during their invasion of southern Israel. During the onslaught, 45 Americans were killed and 12 were abducted.

About 100 hostages, both dead and alive, remain in Gaza, including seven Americans. Three of them — Keith Siegel, Sagui Dekel-Chen, and Edan Alexander — are thought to still be alive. Three others — Itay Chen, Gadi Haggai, and Judi Weinstein Haggai — are believed to be murdered by the terrorist group, with their bodies still in the Palestinian enclave. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) revealed last month that Israeli-American hostage Omer Neutra was killed during the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks, and his body was taken by terrorists into Gaza. Neutra was initially presumed to be among the living captives.

The Biden administration, in which 2024 Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris currently serves as vice president, has faced criticism from both sides of the political aisle for being unable to secure the release of the remaining hostages in Gaza. Criticism of the Biden administration’s handling of hostage negotiations spiked when American-Israel hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin was murdered by Hamas terrorists in late summer right before IDF soldiers could rescue him. 

Trump has repeatedly vowed to take aggressive action to secure the return of the remaining hostages. Last month, he vowed that Hamas will have “hell to pay” if the terrorist group does not release those still held captive in the Gaza Strip. 

“Everybody is talking about the hostages who are being held so violently, inhumanely, and against the will of the entire World, in the Middle East – But it’s all talk, and no action!” Trump posted on the social media platform Truth Social. “Please let this TRUTH serve to represent that if the hostages are not released prior to January 20, 2025, the date that I proudly assume Office as President of the United States, there will be ALL HELL TO PAY in the Middle East, and for those in charge who perpetrated these atrocities against Humanity.”

“Those responsible will be hit harder than anybody has been hit in the long and storied History of the United States of America. RELEASE THE HOSTAGES NOW!” he added.

Trump reiterated the threat days later.