U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on Sunday welcomed the imminent release of the first three Israeli hostages under the truce agreement with the Hamas terrorist organization in the Gaza Strip.
“Hostages starting to come out today! Three wonderful young women will be first,” the president-elect wrote on his Truth Social platform.
On Saturday, the he warned that the truce with Hamas “better hold,” otherwise “all hell will break out.”
In an interview with NBC News, Trump said he told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: “Just keep doing what you have to do. You have to have—this has to end. We want it to end, but to keep doing what has to be done.”
Trump, who will be sworn in as president at noon Eastern Time on Monday, said he would meet with the longtime Israeli leader “fairly shortly.”
Hamas on Sunday named the captives set to be released later that day as Romi Gonen, Doron Steinbrecher and Emily Damari. Their families allowed their names to be published early on Sunday afternoon.
Gonen, 24, was abducted from the Supernova music festival near Kibbutz Re’im after being shot by Hamas terrorists on the morning of Oct. 7, 2023, while Steinbrecher, 31, and Damari, 28, were taken from their homes in the border kibbutz of Kfar Aza. Steinbrecher is a dual Israeli-Romanian citizen, while Damari holds British and Israeli citizenship.
Under Israel’s agreement with Hamas, the terrorist group should have provided the names of the three hostages at least 24 hours ahead of their expected release at 4 p.m. on Sunday.
Hamas attributed the delay in forwarding the names to “technical reasons,” reiterating “its commitment to the terms of the ceasefire agreement.”
