NEW: Hamas Agrees to Resume Hostage Release Plan — Will It Be Enough to Meet Trump’s Ultimatum?

Either Hamas just dodged a bullet, or as President Donald Trump said on Wednesday after a meeting with Jordan’s King Abdullah II, come noon on Saturday, “all bets are off.”

We’ll revisit Trump’s ultimatum to the Palestinian terrorist group to release all remaining hostages by noon on Saturday, but first, the latest from Hamas leadership on what it now says it will do.

Hamas said on Thursday that it will resume releasing hostages on the previously agreed upon timeline as part of its ceasefire agreement with Israel — after saying it would indefinitely postpone the exchanges, claiming the Jewish state violated the terms of their three-week-old ceasefire.

Hamas said in an official statement released on its website:

We are not interested in the collapse of the Gaza ceasefire agreement. We are keen to implement it and for imposing full compliance by Israel. The mediators are exerting pressure to complete the full implementation of the agreement, oblige Israel to abide by the humanitarian protocol, and to resume the exchange process on Saturday.

Here’s where it gets interesting.

As I asked in the headline, is Hamas’ latest capitulation enough to satisfy Trump’s demand that all remaining hostages be released by noon on Saturday? The president couldn’t have been clearer on Monday.

As far as I’m concerned, if all of the hostages aren’t returned by Saturday at 12 o’clock — I think it’s an appropriate time — I would say, cancel it and all bets are off and let hell break out,” the president told reporters in the Oval Office, without specifying what time zone the deadline would apply to.

I’d say they ought to be returned by 12 o’clock on Saturday. And if they’re not returned — all of them, not in dribs and drabs, not two and one and three and four and two – by Saturday at 12 o’clock. And after that, I would say, all hell is going to break out.

And on Tuesday, the Israeli cabinet announced its full support of Trump’s ultimatum to Hamas to release all its remaining hostages by noon on Saturday or, in the president’s words, “all hell is going to break out.”

An Israeli official told Fox News on Tuesday that the cabinet’s declaration came after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened his security cabinet after Hamas announced it would delay the next release of Israeli hostages. Netanyahu said in a statement:

The decision I passed in the Cabinet unanimously is this: If Hamas does not return our hostages by Saturday noon – the ceasefire will end, and the IDF will resume intense combat until Hamas is decisively defeated. In light of Hamas’ announcement of its decision to violate the agreement and not release our hostages, I instructed the IDF last night to amass forces inside and around the Gaza Strip. This operation is currently underway and will be completed as soon as possible.

Neither the White House nor the Israeli government had responded to Hamas’ statement as of this article.

READ MORE:

‘All Hell is Going to Break Out’: Trump Puts Hamas on Notice in Fiery Oval Office Remarks

Bibi on Board: Israeli Cabinet Backs Trump Ultimatum to Hamas on Hostages, Netanyahu Makes Statement

So here we are. 

Is Hamas simply up to its long-played survival game of “dodge and weave” in an attempt to stave off Trump’s ultimatum, wholly backed by the Israeli government and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, or at noon on Saturday, will “all bets be off,” and God knows what’s next?

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