Trump Rejects Hamas’s Partial Hostage Release Offer
President Trump: “We got to get the hostages back. We want all 20 back.”
President Donald Trump has rejected Hamas’s latest offer to release half of the hostages in return for a 60-day Gaza ceasefire. “We got to get the hostages back. We want all 20 back. We don’t want two and four,” President Donald Trump said while addressing the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday.
On Monday, Hamas reportedly sent a direct proposal to President Trump, offering to release half of the hostages. The Palestinian Islamic terrorist group made the offer as Israeli ground troops advanced on its last major stronghold of Gaza City. The terror group continues to hold around 48 Israeli hostages, 20 of whom are believed to be alive.
“Hamas will tell US President Donald Trump that it is willing to release half of the remaining 48 hostages in exchange for a 60-day ceasefire guarantee,” The Jerusalem Post reported Monday, quoting a source. “The letter reportedly states that as long as negotiations for a permanent end to the war continue, the ceasefire will continue.”
President Trump also slammed the European and Western leaders lining up to recognize the ‘Palestinian State,’ less than two years after Hamas’s October 7 massacre. “Unfortunately, Hamas has repeatedly rejected reasonable offers to make peace. We can’t forget Oct. 7,” he told the UN assembly. “Some of this body is seeking to unilaterally recognize a Palestinian state.”
“This would be a reward for these horrible atrocities, including Oct. 7, even while they refuse to release the hostages or accept a ceasefire,” he added.
President Trump’s speech echoes previous comments made by Secretary of State Marco Rubio. The president “wants all the hostages out,” both alive and dead, he told reporters, The Times of Israel reported Tuesday:
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio says the Trump administration will not accept Hamas’s proposal for a 60-day truce in which half of the hostages are released, which the terror group is slated to present to Washington in a letter in the coming days.
A source familiar with the matter told The Times of Israel yesterday that the letter would be sent to US President Donald Trump via Qatar once it is signed by Hamas’s leadership.
“I don’t know who they gave that letter to. It wouldn’t have mattered, though, because the president has been clear… He’s not interested in 60 days, 10 people. He wants all the hostages out, all 48, including the 20 who are alive and the 28 who are deceased,” Rubio tells Fox News when asked about the letter.
“He would have rejected that offer had it come, but we haven’t seen that letter,” Rubio adds.
Netanyahu vows to ‘destroy’ Iran’s terrorist axis in Rosh Hashanah address
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to destroy Iran’s terrorist axis in the coming year. “We are in a struggle in which we are overcoming our enemies, and we need to destroy the Iranian axis, and this is within our power,” Prime Minister Netanyahu told Israel’s top military officials, marking Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, which began Monday night. The destruction of Iran’s terrorist proxies “could be a historic year for the security of Israel,” he added.
The remarks came in the backdrop of yearlong Israeli military operations that have greatly degraded Iranian-sponsored terrorist groups such as Lebanese Hezbollah and Yemen-based Houthis. Syria’s Assad regime, propped up by Iran and Hezbollah, collapsed last December. Iran-backed Palestinian terrorist groups, Hamas and Islamic Jihad (PIJ), have lost most of their leadership and operatives in Gaza.
The Israeli military successes were not limited to hitting Iranian proxies. During the 12-Day War (June 13-24, 2025), Israel struck Iran’s key nuclear weapons facilities and eliminated top nuke experts. In a decisive blow, the U.S. dispatched B-2 bombers to strike Iran’s three deep-underground nuclear sites: Fordo, Natanz, and Isfahan.
The Israeli news website Ynetnews reported on Netanyahu’s address:
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke in front of the IDF General Staff Forum, alongside Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir and Defense Minister Israel Katz, ahead of Rosh Hashanah eve, honoring the military’s efforts in the passing year.
Netanyahu signaled the war will extend into the new Hebrew year, declaring, “We need to destroy the Iranian axis—and we have the power to do so.” He described the coming year as potentially historic for Israel’s security following Operation Rising Lion in June.
“I want to salute the tremendous effort you’re making, the great successes you’ve achieved, and the immense sacrifice and heroism of this generation, which many wrote off, doubting its commitment and fighting ability. It has proven to be a mighty generation enduring painful battles,” he said.
Netanyahu reaffirmed his resolve to meet all war goals, not just in Gaza—eliminating Hamas, freeing hostages and ensuring Gaza no longer threatens Israel—but also across other fronts, opening paths to security, victory and peace. “This requires two fundamental traits: unity in moments of trial and determination at all times. May this be a year of security, victory and unity. Happy New Year,” he added.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Rosh Hashanah Greeting:
“Dear Jewish brothers and sisters,
Dear supporters of Israel around the world,
On behalf of my wife, myself and the Government of Israel, I wish each of you a Happy New Year. pic.twitter.com/GVG5a39GS7— Prime Minister of Israel (@IsraeliPM) September 22, 2025
Report: IDF completes encirclement of Hamas stronghold of Gaza City
As the ground offensive to capture Gaza City enters its second week, the IDF has completed the encirclement of the Hamas stronghold, Israeli media reports say. Israeli ground troops started moving into the terrorist bastion after days of airstrikes that took out Hamas observation points, command centers, and tunnel network.
The operation to capture the Hamas-held city is one of the most significant battles of the Gaza war, which began after terrorists from Gaza invaded Israel on October 7, 2023. More than 1,200 Israeli men, women, and children were brutally murdered, and hundreds were taken as captives into Gaza.
While Starmer and Macron keep barking , IDF is rapidly conquering the city of Gaza, the last stronghold of Hamas pic.twitter.com/d5Mska3rzT
— Dr. Eli David (@DrEliDavid) September 23, 2025
The Jerusalem Post reported:
The IDF has completed the encirclement of Gaza City on Tuesday, according to military sources.
Maariv reported that three IDF divisions have surrounded the city with minimal resistance from Hamas.
On Monday night an IDF spokesperson announced that after assessing the situation ahead of the Rosh Hashanah holiday, “it was decided to reinforce and put dozens of companies on alert in the training of fighters from across the IDF, for defensive and offensive missions.”
Despite Hamas setting up ambushes and blocking the evacuation, the majority of Gaza City residents have reportedly left the combat zone. The IDF is facilitating the evacuation and providing humanitarian relief in designated safe zones in southern Gaza.
“According to new Israeli military estimates, approximately 640,000 Palestinians have evacuated Gaza City to the southern Gaza Strip. Before the IDF’s major offensive against Hamas, the city had a population of approximately one million,” Israel’s i24NEWS TV channel reported Tuesday. “The evacuation is in response to an Israeli order for civilians to move to a designated humanitarian zone in the southern part of the territory.”
Palestinians report that a remote-controlled IDF APC detonated in Gaza City. pic.twitter.com/TOo8qLaBnd
— Joe Truzman (@JoeTruzman) September 22, 2025
Hamas executes “collaborators” as it loses grip over Gaza
With IDF advancing to capture Hamas’s last key stronghold, the terrorist group organized a public execution of alleged Israeli “collaborators” in a desperate show of strength.
The graphic video available on social media shows Hamas gunmen kicking three of their blindfolded victims on the ground before opening fire. A crowd of onlookers and supporters can be seen standing behind the firing squad. The gruesome murderer is greeted with the joyful chants of ‘Allahu Akbar’ by Gazans. The Hamas murderers are then cheered as heroes by the crowd:
These are Hamas gunmen publicly executing Palestinians in Gaza in front of a cheering Palestinian crowd.
This is the evil Israel faces: the same jihadists that are still torturing 48 hostages in Gaza. pic.twitter.com/k2KmgvxFA3
— Israel Foreign Ministry (@IsraelMFA) September 23, 2025
The Telegraph (UK) reported:
Hamas has executed three Palestinians accused of “collaborating” with Israel on the streets of Gaza.
Footage posted on Hamas-affiliated Telegram accounts showed armed and masked members of the group lining up three blindfolded Palestinians in a public square in Gaza.
Chants of “Allahu Akbar” were heard among the crowd as they gathered to watch and film the public execution.
One of the Hamas members was heard saying: “Pursuant to the content of Palestinian revolutionary law and based on the Palestinian revolutionary court, a death sentence was decided against those who betrayed the homeland, betrayed their people and betrayed their cause, and put [themselves] hand-in-hand with the occupation in order to kill their own people.”
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Resume Operation Hunt and Peck.
It’s more about turning over rocks and killing what crawls out. Quite seriously how can anyone real deals with a ‘government’ which keeps corpses as hostages… lugging them around in tunnels as they crawl… for years?
At this point are any of the hostages still alive? I honestly don’t know.
But as far as Hamas is concerned, I’m disappointed that there are still members left to negotiate with.
Palestinians are all Hamas…
Gaza thinks there a country now (or at least the UK and France think it is).
Now act like one. Holding hostages from another country is an act of war. Continue to hold them, and Israel is justified in killing the leaders, removing the ability of the “country” to take further hostages (or kill Israelis), and even taking over territory from a hostile aggressor.
Looks like a lasting peace will be imposed upon Hamas 😂😂
It’s about time somebody told Hamas that hostages are people, not grandma’s box of mix & match discount coupons.
You wouldn’t even know Hamas had hostages if you only follow the MFM!
Just kill them all and be done with it. What are the Euroweenies going to do. Recognize another arab state. They just did that giving up whatever leverage they might have had,
While they are at it level Yemen and the rest of Iran’s military. Take out Oman’s military too. They’ve been playing stupid games for too long.
I should have said Qatar instead of Oman although one Arab state is much like any other.
Conservative Glenn Loury explains why he’s pro-Palestinian.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qa7WiQ7qqJs
You misspelled “moron” Glenn Loury.
He makes up his own mind. And has changed it several times on this and that.
Amy Wax attended one of his talks in his liberal days where he deplored the number of blacks in prison. Amy Wax raised her hand and said she thought there ought to be more blacks in jail. He turned her in to the authorities. Now they’re mutually supportive friends.
He’s anti-woke, anti-affirmative action, so popular with a conservative audience. Slightly Trump supporting but less than before J6. Trump did win the election, he says. That’s worth something.
He sees that blacks don’t do well on cognitive tests but holds out hope that some change will fix it. Where I think the data is in and there’s been lots of time for it to change if it was going to – but blacks handicap themselves further with a chip on their shoulder, so fix that first.
He does not see that the very smart blacks (himself and McWhorter for example) are pandered to just like other blacks. The only really smart black I know is Sowell.
Weekly Glenn show clips and podcast are about half the time interesting.
Immediate release of the remaining hostages to include the remains of those murdered should be a precondition for any further negotiations with Hamas.
I recognize gaza—as a geographic area that elected hamas to run it. That, by definition, makes most gazans willing members of a terrorist organization. The election that put them in position was a fair and open one, right?
After the Israelis finish with the hamasses, can we sic them on starmer and macron?
Who rejected that offer?