Trump on the Hostage Deal: "Not one American has been released yet"

Former US President Donald Trump tonight (Sunday) referred to the deal between Israel and Hamas for the release of the hostages from the Gaza Strip, when he used the issue to attack his Democratic opponent, the incumbent President Joe Biden. In his words, he attacked Biden and Hamas for not having released hostages yet I have American citizenship in the deal.

"Has anyone noticed that Hamas has returned people from other countries, but so far they haven't released a single American prisoner?" Trump asked in a post he wrote on his social network Truth Social. According to him, "There is only one reason for this: there is no respect for our country or our leadership." Despite Trump's words, it should be noted that Hamas did release two American citizens last month, Judith and Natalie Ra'anan - but they were released unilaterally by Hamas and not in the current deal.

Trump added and referred to the crisis recorded last night surrounding the release of the second round of hostages, and claimed that "Hamas now wants a better deal for the hostages. This is not going to end well. This is a very sad and dark time for America!".

At the same time, the White House also expressed disappointment that Hamas has not yet released the American citizens held captive in the Gaza Strip. "We are disappointed that we have not yet seen the Americans on the list, but we are hopeful for the next two days," administration officials told NBC News. "The US hopes we can keep the ceasefire and the prisoner exchange in place because we want all the hostages out."