Trump Envoy: He’s Serious About the ‘Last Warning’

One certainly should hope so. Presidents issuing red lines and failing to enforce them created much of the mess that Donald Trump cleaned up in his first term. The decision to directly engage with Hamas sent some mixed signals, and even the ‘last warning’ didn’t appear to deflect the White House from attempting to cut a deal with Hamas. 

And that’s still possible, Trump’s envoy to the Middle East said late yesterday. But … tick tock, tick tock:

“I think there’s going to be some action taken” if Hamas fails to surrender its hostages, Steve Witkoff told reporters Thursday outside the White House. “It could be jointly with the Israelis.”

Asked if Witkoff meant the U.S. would join Israel in a military action, Trump said Thursday, “Well, we’re going to find out.”

“Somebody’s going to have to get a lot rougher than they’re getting. It’s a shame,” Trump added.

Witkoff said that he hoped the situation could be resolved diplomatically through negotiations. “If the dialogue doesn’t work, then the alternative is not such a good alternative for Hamas,” he said. “Hamas has an opportunity to act reasonably, to do what’s right, and then to walk out,” he added, saying that that Hamas would no longer govern Gaza.

And by “do what’s right,” Witkoff has one specific meaning in mind:

“Edan Alexander is very important to us. He is wounded, and he is a top priority. I hope we see good behavior [from Hamas] next week and that I can get there (to Qatar) and have good talks,” Witkoff said.

Speaking of Trump’s stance, Witkoff said, “An American is going to be a priority for him.”

“The president’s message yesterday to Hamas was that he was fed up. I wouldn’t test the president… There will be consequences.”

Part of the urgency comes from the information from released hostages about Alexander’s condition. Hamas captured Alexander in his IDF uniform, and the terrorists have targeted him for particularly harsh treatment, according to the Jerusalem Post. While the proof-of-life information is relatively recent, there is significant concern about how much longer Alexander can survive:

According to their testimonies, which have been passed on to his family, Alexander is being held in an underground tunnel without air or sunlight and is severely malnourished and underweight due to a lack of food.

The released hostages added that Alexander, a soldier who was kidnapped in IDF uniform, was treated much more harshly by his captors than civilian hostages. He has reportedly been severely interrogated and tortured.

Alexander was also handcuffed for almost all of his captivity, N12 continued.

However, the released hostages also revealed that Alexander apparently exhibited continual mental strength and cared for his well-being and that of fellow captives.

That may have driven Trump to green-light direct negotiations with Hamas. However, it turns out that Israel didn’t get informed right away of that choice, and now there are rumors of unhappiness between the allies that may play right into the hands of the terrorists:

The direct talks between the US and Hamas have hit a snag since their existence was leaked to the media on Wednesday, a government official briefed on the talks told The Times of Israel.

The negotiations — unprecedented in nature — have largely been focused on securing the release of American-Israeli hostage Edan Alexander along with the bodies of American-Israelis Itay Chen, Omer Neutra, Gadi Haggai and Judi Weinstein, the official said.

Israel was not fully briefed on the talks ahead of time, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is unhappy with their existence, the official said. The premier’s office issued a terse statement following an Axios report revealing the existence of the first-ever direct talks between the US and Hamas, saying, “Israel has expressed to the United States its position regarding direct talks with Hamas.”

The reaction from the Israelis may have pushed Trump to make his ultimatum on Wednesday, in order to demonstrate unity with the Israelis. That prompted a scolding from Hamas, which insists that Israel has to stick to the Phase 2 schedule to get any more hostages. That would also mean that Hamas would not be doing “the right thing” by getting out, but instead remain in control of Gaza.

And that brings us to the same position as before. At some point, both Trump and the Israelis are going to have to choose between eliminating Hamas and getting the remaining hostages back. The decision to cut deals for the hostages makes Hamas confident they can force that choice, and it doesn’t help to have both sides negotiating separately. Hamas can drive wedges between the two more easily, and in fact that appears to have already happened. 

How does Trump fix that? He may have sent Witkoff out to emphasize the “last warning” message with that in mind. The suggestion from Witkoff that the US would join in a combined operation escalates the threat — but only if Hamas takes it seriously. And that won’t happen unless and until Trump and Netanyahu give Hamas a reason to think that they will choose Hamas’ destruction as their top priority.