The US president-elect has renewed his earlier threat that there will be “hell to pay” if the captives held by Hamas in Gaza are not released by the time he is in office in about two weeks.

Asked what he meant by the previous threat during a radio interview with a conservative radio talk show host, Donald Trump said: “Exactly what it says – if those hostages aren’t released by the time I get to office, there will be hell to pay.”

Trump said he does not believe he has to get into details, but added that his response would not consist of saying “don’t” to enemies, as he accused outgoing President Joe Biden of repeatedly doing since the start of the war on Gaza. Trump also said “I’m with Israel” but “also for peace”.

A group of families of Israeli captives held a press conference in Tel Aviv earlier today, sending a direct message to Trump in English.

“Please don’t leave any hostage behind, please make sure all hostages are coming back home,” they said.