U.S. envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff warned Thursday that Hamas’ treatment of the captives it has been keeping in custody in the Gaza Strip is “intolerable,” warning that “it will not be tolerated by President Trump.” Witkoff appeared outside the White House one day after President Donald Trump met with eight former captives in Washington and issued a “last warning” to Hamas via his Truth Social platform. “We’re not going to sit here, do nothing and tolerate this kind of inhumane conditions,” Witkoff told reporters. “They lived in a horrible circumstance. By the way, who keeps the dead bodies? Who does this? Who keeps the people locked up downstairs? Who murders in front of the other hostages? What happened here is disgusting and it’s not going to be tolerated by President Trump.”

“We had a lovely day with the hostages yesterday… they received a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to spend time with President Trump. And we expected it to be a short visit because his day was busy, but he ended up spending nearly an hour with them, taking pictures of each hostage and hearing to their stories of what happened to them in captivity. “And he was clearly emotional about it, as anyone would be,” Witkoff added.

“The president was pretty blunt,” Witkoff continued. “It is time for Hamas to begin acting responsibly and reasonably. And we don’t believe they have been doing that.” However, the Palestinian terrorist group ignored Trump’s latest warning on Thursday, refusing to release any more Israeli hostages in the Gaza Strip without a permanent cease-fire agreement. According to Hamas spokesman Abdel-Latif al-Qanoua, the “best path to free the remaining Israeli hostages” is to negotiate a second phase of the ceasefire deal.

“‘Shalom Hamas’ means Hello and Goodbye – You can choose,” Trump remarked on Wednesday. “Release all of the Hostages now, not later, and immediately return all of the dead bodies of the people you murdered, or it is OVER for you.” Trump also stated that he is “sending Israel everything it needs to finish the job,” and that “not a single Hamas member will be safe unless you do as I say.”

“Also, to the People of Gaza: A beautiful Future awaits, but not if you hold Hostages,” the U.S. president added. “If you do, you will die! Make SMART decisions. RELEASE THE HOSTAGES NOW OR FACE HELL LATER!”