President Donald Trump called on world leaders to demand the release of all hostages being held by the Hamas terrorists in Gaza.
Trump challenged United Nations members during his Tuesday speech before the General Assembly.
"Instead of giving in to Hamas' ransom demands, those who want peace should be united with one message: Release the hostages now. Just release the hostages now," said Trump, earning applause.
"As we have got to come together and we will come together, going to get it done. We have to stop the war in Gaza immediately. We have to stop it. We have to get it done."
Trump continued: "We have to negotiate immediately, have to negotiate peace. We've got to get the hostages back."
"We want all 20 back. We don't want two and four," he said. "As you know, I got, along with [special envoy] Steve Witkoff and others that helped us ... [Secretary of State] Marco Rubio … we got most of them back. We were involved in all of them.
"But I always said the last 20 are going to be the hardest. And that's exactly what happened."
The president added that Hamas needs to return the bodies of 38 dead hostages.
"Those parents came to me, and they want them back and they want them back very quickly and very badly, as though they were alive," he said. "They want them every bit as much as if their son or daughter were alive."
Hamas took 251 hostages on Oct. 7, 2023, when the terrorists attacked Israel and killed roughly 1,200 people.
Trump told the assembly that recognition of a Palestinian state would be too great a reward for Hamas.
Charlie McCarthy ✉
Charlie McCarthy, a writer/editor at Newsmax, has nearly 40 years of experience covering news, sports, and politics.