US President-elect Donald Trump has warned about severe punishment for those responsible for holding hostages in the Gaza Strip unless a deal on the release of hostages is reached before he takes office, Report informs via TASS.

"Please let this truth serve to represent that if the hostages are not released prior to January 20, 2025, the date that I proudly assume Office as President of the United States, there will be all hell to pay in the Middle East, and for those in charge who perpetrated these atrocities against Humanity," he wrote on the Truth Social network.

"Those responsible will be hit harder than anybody has been hit in the long and storied History of the United States of America," he warned.

He also regretted that all the talk about hostages held "so violently, inhumanely, and against the will of the entire World" in the Gaza Strip are not followed by any action.

US Republican Senator Lindsey Graham (put on Russia’s list of terrorists and extremists) said in an interview with the Axios news portal earlier that Trump wants to settle the conflict in the Palestinian enclave before his inauguration.
Meanwhile, US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said that he cannot guarantee that the Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal will be reached under the current administration.