US Ambassador Dorothy Shea has told the UN Security Council that Hamas “bears the sole responsibility for the war and the resumption of hostilities” in Gaza, after a failure to respond to President Donald Trump’s warnings, Al Jazeera reports.

“Trump has been clear: Hamas must release all hostages now or there will be hell to pay,” Shea said.

She added that while “fighting could end tomorrow if Hamas released the hostages and laid down its weapons,” the group “refused time and time again to accept proposals to extend the ceasefire”.

“We must recognise Hamas for what it is: a savage terrorist organisation that purposefully committed the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust,” Shea said.