WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump has given Palestinian group Hamas until Sunday evening to accept his proposed peace plan with Israel, warning that failure to do so would unleash “all hell like no one has ever seen before.”
In a social media post on Friday, Trump declared: “An agreement must be reached with Hamas by Sunday evening at 6:00 p.m. Washington, D.C. time. Every country has signed on. If this last-chance agreement is not reached, all hell… will break out against Hamas.”
The plan outlines an immediate ceasefire, the exchange of hostages held by Hamas for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli custody, a phased Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, Hamas’ disarmament, and the formation of a transitional government under international supervision.
Trump said he first presented the 20-point plan to leaders from Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Pakistan, Qatar, and the UAE during last week’s UN General Assembly. Mediators Qatar and Egypt then relayed it to Hamas after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu endorsed the proposal alongside Trump at the White House.
Hamas deliberates response
Hamas was not part of the negotiations and has previously rejected disarmament. A Hamas official told Reuters on Thursday that no final decision had been reached, adding that “intensive discussion is under way” with Arab mediators, Turkey, and Palestinian factions.
Trump, who earlier gave Hamas “three to four days” to respond, on Friday again described the group as a “ruthless and violent threat in the Middle East.” He warned that fighters remaining in Gaza would be “hunted down and killed” without a deal, and advised Palestinians to move to safer areas, despite UN warnings that no place in Gaza is safe.
Israel’s offensive, launched after Hamas’ October 7, 2023 attack that killed 1,200 Israelis and took 251 hostages, has killed more than 66,000 Palestinians, mostly civilians, according to Gaza health officials. Trump claimed more than 25,000 Hamas fighters have also been killed.
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