EDITORIAL: Trump sends a clear message to Hamas terrorists

Donald Trump’s blustery diplomacy ignores the usual protocols — and that’s the point. Our adversaries are never sure what to make of his huffing. Uncertainty can lead to caution.

Consider the terrorists who attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and still hold dozens of innocent hostages they seized during their barbaric rampage. On Monday, Mr. Trump took to social media and demanded that Hamas release the captives before he again assumes the White House in January or there will be “hell to pay … for those in charge who perpetrated these atrocities against humanity.”

He wasn’t through. “Those responsible,” he added, “will be hit harder than anybody has been hit in the long and storied history of the United States of America.”

Hamas at one time held about 250 hostages, including a handful of Americans. Some were released during a short cease-fire, and a few have been rescued by Israeli forces. Israel believes around 100 remain as prisoners and that about one-third of the original captives are dead, The New York Times reports.

In response to Mr. Trump, Hamas officials released a craven and ludicrous statement on Tuesday blaming Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for not caving to terrorist demands.

“Since the beginning of this genocide, Hamas has publicly announced and been active in seeking a permanent ceasefire to end the Israeli aggression against our people; a deal which would have included a full prisoners’ exchange,” Hamas spokesman Basem Naim said in a statement, according to Newsweek. “However, Netanyahu has sabotaged all these attempts.”

Hamas terrorists need better interpreters. Mr. Trump’s strong comments were in no way an indictment of Mr. Netanyahu. The incoming president was pointing squarely at those who provoked the ongoing conflict and who kidnapped innocent men, women and children — while purposely putting their own civilians in harm’s way — as part of their fanatical effort to eliminate the Jewish state and draw other rogue states and terror groups to their murderous cause.

Whether Mr. Trump’s threats produce results in the coming weeks remains to be seen. But his comments send a clear message to the bad actors in the Middle East and stand in stark contrast to the appeasement and equivocation offered by the Biden administration, which seemed more intent on publicly rebuking Israel than on holding Hamas terrorists responsible for their actions.

In that regard, Mr. Trump’s statement represents a welcome effort to cut through the moral fog that characterizes so much misguided progressive thinking on Israel and the terrorists who would destroy it.