Rubio: Hostages must ‘all be released immediately. Period’

The Trump administration is rejecting half-measures and demanding that Hamas immediately release all 48 hostages from the Gaza Strip, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in an interview with Fox News on Tuesday. Rubio also dismissed media reports that Washington had received a letter from Hamas requesting a 60-day ceasefire in exchange for the release of 10 Israeli hostages.

“We haven’t seen the letter, we don’t have that letter, and even if we did, it wouldn’t matter,” said Rubio. “The president’s already made clear: He’s not interested in 60 days, 10 people. He wants all the hostages out, all 48, including the 20 who are alive.

“Why are we even talking about hostages, why do we still have to talk about hostages at this point? There shouldn’t be any. They should all be released immediately. Period,” continued the top American diplomat. On Friday, U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters in the Oval Office that the Hamas-led invasion and massacre in Israel’s south on Oct. 7, 2023, “was genocide at the highest level.” “Babies were chopped in half, arms were cut off people, heads were cut off people—that’s genocide,” he said. (Read More)