President-elect Donald Trump speaks to members of the media during a press conference at Mar-a-Lago on Jan. 7. Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images

(JTA) — Donald Trump repeated his threat that “all hell will break out” if Hamas doesn’t release the hostages it is holding in Gaza as his Middle East envoy signaled optimism about a ceasefire deal that would see some of the captives go free.

The president-elect and his chosen envoy, real estate magnate Steve Witkoff, made the comments at a wide-ranging press conference Tuesday, 13 days before Trump returns to office. Although he is not yet in the White House, Witkoff appears to be taking a role in the negotiations.

“I think we’re making a lot of progress, and I don’t want to say too much because I think they’re doing a really good job back in Doha,” the capital of Qatar, where talks are being held and where Witkoff said he would fly shortly. “I think that we’ve had some really great progress, and I’m really hopeful that by the inaugural, we’ll have some good things to announce on behalf of the president.”

Getting a hostage and ceasefire deal done is a shared priority of outgoing President Joe Biden and Trump, though negotiations have gained momentum in the past only to then falter amid mutual recriminations. At the press conference, Trump issued a threat to Hamas to release the approximately 100 captives, dozens of whom are though to be dead, before he takes office on Jan. 20.

“If those hostages aren’t back — I don’t want to hurt your negotiation — if they’re not back by the time I get into office, all hell will break out in the Middle East and it will not be good for Hamas, and it will not be good, frankly, for anyone,” Trump said. He added that relatives of hostages who have been killed had called him to help recover their loved one’s bodies.

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