United States President Donald Trump on Monday (February 10, US time) virtually set a deadline for return of all Israeli hostages in Hamas captivity by saying that if all captives are not released by Saturday (February 15), 12 o'clock, 'all hell will break loose'. The harsh words from leader of the world's strongest nation came after Hamas said that it was delaying a scheduled release of hostages 'until further notice'.
What Trump might mean by 'hell let loose'
Trump has not gone into details of what exactly he meant. But following are the possible options Trump may choose to take.
Sanctions on Hamas
Trump is currently in the midst of signing a flurry of executive orders which have not only imposed tariffs from imports from adversaries like China but also from allies like Canada.
It is quite conceivable that, if Hamas doesn't free hostages, Trump may take steps to make Hamas harder to obtain funds, weapons and so on by imposing sanctions stronger that the group already has on it. This is likely to further cripple the militant group's capability to fight against the formidable Israeli forces.
Sanctions Against Other Countries In Middle East
Another conceivable possibility is US sanctions on countries in the Middle East, especially those supporting Hamas.
Trump is known to justify his punitive measures by connecting dots which seem disconnected. As he imposed tariffs on Canada, China and Mexico, Trump said one of the reasons of these tariffs is drug smuggling into US and these countries doing very little about it.
Will he blame countries supporting Hamas (like Iran) if the group fails to release hostages? Not entirely impossible. Sanctions on these countries may follow.
More Help To Israel
If Hamas fails to release hostages by Trump's deadline, the US president may choose to further enhance US' help to its ally Israel.
Israeli military action has damaged Hamas and even Hezbollah considerably. Fresh help from US may tilt the scales further.
US Take-Over Of Gaza
Even if this seems far-fetched at this point. Trump may choose to take steps to achieve what he has described as 'take-over' of Gaza.
Although he has not given details of his plan, Trump has caused quite an alarm worldwide by saying that if US takes-over Gaza, the residents of the Palestinian enclave will not be allowed to return as they will have 'better housing' elsewhere.
