“Those responsible will be hit harder than anybody has been hit in the long and storied history of the US,” the president-elect wrote. “Release the hostages now.”

The president-elect’s picks suggest that his administration will “take the region, the Middle East, the threats confronting Israel seriously.”

“A move to downgrade Israel’s status at the United Nations would be a new low, even for an organization that is as rife with antisemites as the UN,” said Sen. Tom Cotton.

“The letter was not meant as a threat,” said John Kirby, the White House national security communications advisor. “We have to follow the law of the land here.”

“We’re working on a joint statement,” the US president said. “There’s going to be some sanctions imposed on Iran.”

“Out of an abundance of caution, we are sending a small number of additional U.S. military personnel forward to augment our forces that are already in the region,” the Pentagon said.

Hamas’s execution of six hostages has “called into question Hamas’s readiness to do a deal of any kind,” the senior official said.

“The charges unsealed today are just one part of our effort to target every aspect of Hamas’s operations,” Merrick Garland said. “These actions will not be our last.”

“The ongoing reckless statements and actions of this minister only sow chaos and exacerbate tensions,” Foggy Bottom spokesman Matthew Miller said.

Hamas has yet to respond to Israel’s proposed deal, according to the Israeli prime minister’s office.