President-elect Donald Trump warned that if hostages still being held in Gaza are not released by the time he is inaugurated on January 20, “all hell will break out in the Middle East.”

The deal would secure release of a third of the approximately 100 hostages who remain in Gaza, including two dual U.S.-Israeli nationals. In return, Israel would release some Palestinian prisoners.

Doha has been hosting negotiations on a ceasefire in the Gaza war that would include freeing hostages that Hamas abducted in its Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel. Doha is capital of

US President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming special envoy to the Middle East said negotiators were on the verge of a deal to secure the release of hostages taken by Hamas in its war against Israel.

President-elect Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff will join negotiations over a Gaza hostage-release and ceasefire deal on Wednesday in Doha. Why it matters: Witkoff's trip is part of a last-minute effort by the outgoing Biden administration and the incoming Trump administration to reach a deal to release hostages held by Hamas and establish a ceasefire in Gaza before Trump's inauguration on Jan.

Hamas stood by its demand on Tuesday that Israel fully end its assault on Gaza under any deal to release hostages, and said U.S. President-elect Donald Trump was rash to say there would be "hell to pay" unless they go free by his Jan.