US Secretary of State blasts Hamas and demands the release of all hostages: What Hamas has done is outrageous and we shouldn’t accept it as normal. We’re dealing with savages. These are bad people, terrible people, and we need to treat them as such.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday blasted Hamas and demanded the release of all the hostages still being held by the terrorist organization.
Speaking to reporters, Rubio was asked whether the US would be open to an agreement with Hamas to receive American hostages, separate from Israeli hostages, including Edan Alexander, after Hamas claimed it is willing to release all the Americans it is still holding in Gaza.
“Well, I think our priority always, as the US government, is that we care about all the hostages. We want all the hostages released. We believe they should all be released,” replied Rubio.
He added, “And that, by the way, we talk about hostages, we’re also talking about bodies. And these trades are being made, and they’re ridiculous trades. Talk about 400 people for three. These are nuts. And on top of that, you see the condition these people are being released in.”
“Think about what we’re talking about here,” continued Rubio. “I mean, we’re sitting around as the world sort of accepting that it’s normal and okay for you to go into a place, kidnap babies, kidnap teenagers, kidnap people that have nothing to do with any wars, that are not soldiers, that are not anything, and taking them and putting them in tunnels for almost a year and a half. And we’re acting like if this is a normal exchange, this is a normal thing that happens. This is an outrage.”
“So they should all be released. I’m not going to comment on what we’re going to accept or not accept, other than all of us, the whole world, should continue to say that what Hamas has done is outrageous. It’s ridiculous. It’s sick. It’s disgusting. It should never have happened. And we shouldn’t accept it as normal, as a normal negotiation. We’re just dealing with some savages. These are bad people, terrible people, and we need to treat them as such. But that said, we want all the hostages out,” the Secretary of State concluded.
Earlier on Friday, Steve Witkoff, US President Donald Trump’s envoy to the Middle East, said that Hamas is making “unrealistic” demands behind the scenes, despite publicly expressing willingness to release hostage Edan Alexander and the remains of four dual-citizen hostages.
“Hamas is making a very poor gamble by believing that time is on its side. That is not the case. Hamas is well aware of the deadline and must understand that we will respond accordingly if it passes,” Witkoff warned.
The envoy also revealed that last Wednesday, he presented a mediation proposal aimed at extending the ceasefire in Gaza through Ramadan and Passover to provide more time for negotiations toward a permanent ceasefire.
On Thursday, it was reported that under Witkoff’s newest proposal, the ceasefire would be extended by 50 days and Israel would release convicted terrorists, in exchange for the release of a number of hostages.
During this period, talks would resume on the deal’s second stage, which would see Israel withdraw completely from Gaza, despite Hamas’ repeated violations of the ceasefire.
The number of hostages to be released under this proposal is not yet clear, though there are indications that five living hostages and nine deceased hostages may be released, among them US citizens.
