‘Pay in hell if they don’t sign’: Trump sets Hamas a deadline to accept his Gaza peace plan

6 days ago 4

Hamas will have “three or four days” to accept a peace plan for Gaza under an ultimatum set by US President Donald Trump to force a swift agreement on his proposal with Israel to create a new authority to control the war-ravaged territory.

Trump set the deadline a day after revealing the sweeping peace proposal with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, making it clear that war would continue unless Hamas leaders agreed to cede control of the Palestinian territory.

Trump dismissed the likelihood of a negotiation with Hamas, a listed terrorist group, to modify the plan to form a “board of peace” to oversee Gaza, chaired by the president himself.

“Hamas is either going to be doing it or not, and if it’s not, it’s going to be a very sad end,” he told reporters. He added there was “not much” room for negotiations over the plan.

Later, in an address to US generals, the president said he hoped Hamas would sign up to the plan “for their own good” and signalled that the war would get worse if they did not agree to the terms.

“We have one signature that we need, and that signature will pay in hell if they don’t sign,” he said.

US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on Monday.

Hamas leaders appear to be leaning toward accepting the terms, according to a report from CBS News that cited a source close to the process. The decision could be presented to Egyptian and Qatari officials as soon as Wednesday.

The Palestinian Authority, which administers the West Bank but lost control of Gaza to Hamas after elections and internal fighting in 2006, has backed the Trump proposal.

“We have affirmed that we desire a modern, democratic, non-militarised Palestinian state that is committed to pluralism and the peaceful transfer of power,” it said in a statement.

The proposal would see an immediate truce in Gaza as long as Hamas agreed to release all Israeli hostages – alive and dead – including 47 who were abducted in the October 7 attack on Israeli civilians in 2023.

This would be followed by the release of “full aid” into Gaza and the rebuilding of hospitals as well as water, electricity and sewage. This would be overseen by a transitional authority led by the “board of peace” with members including former British prime minister Tony Blair.

Netanyahu, who agreed to the plan in a meeting with Trump in the White House on Monday, returned to Israel with a message that warned of continued war against Hamas in Gaza unless the hostages were released and the peace agreement accepted.

The Israeli prime minister said the proposal would not allow Hamas to stay in Gaza and rebuild its support under the new authority.

In a social media post, Netanyahu relayed what the president had told him in their White House meeting.

Displaced Palestinian children search for firewood and plastic in a landfill beside the makeshift tent camp in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, on Tuesday.

“President Trump added that if Hamas refuses, he will give Israel full backing to complete the military operation and eliminate them,” Netanyahu said in Hebrew on Instagram, according to a translation reported by The Washington Post.

The peace plan holds out incentives for Hamas to gain the release of its prisoners held in Israel and gain safe passage to third countries.

“Once all hostages are released, Israel will release 250 life sentence prisoners plus 1700 Gazans who were detained after October 7th 2023, including all women and children detained in that context,” the document says.

“For every Israeli hostage whose remains are released, Israel will release the remains of 15 deceased Gazans.

“Once all hostages are returned, Hamas members who commit to peaceful coexistence and to decommission their weapons will be given amnesty. Members of Hamas who wish to leave Gaza will be provided safe passage to receiving countries.”

Muslim nations, including Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Pakistan, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, backed the proposal in a joint statement from their foreign ministers.

They emphasised the deal should lead to the unrestricted delivery of aid to Gaza, no displacement of the Palestinians, the release of hostages and a full Israeli withdrawal.

They also said it should ensure a “path for a just peace on the basis of the two-state solution” so that Gaza was fully integrated with the West Bank in a Palestinian state.

A destroyed building in Gaza City this week.

Trump set out no timetable for a Palestinian state but raised it as a possibility in the plan released on Monday.

“The United States will work with Arab and international partners to develop a temporary International Stabilisation Force (ISF) to immediately deploy in Gaza,” the document states.

“Israel will not occupy or annex Gaza. As the ISF establishes control and stability, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) will withdraw.

“The conditions may finally be in place for a credible pathway to Palestinian self-determination and statehood, which we recognise as the aspiration of the Palestinian people.”

In the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, Israeli troops opened fire, killing 17 Palestinians and wounding 33 others while they were attempting to access humanitarian aid in central Gaza, according to nearby al-Awda Hospital, where the casualties were taken. The Israeli military said troops fired when individuals approached their position “in a manner that endangered them”.

Israeli strikes in central and southern Gaza killed 19 others, according to local hospitals.

Israel’s campaign in Gaza has killed more than 66,000 Palestinians and wounded nearly 170,000 others, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. The ministry does not differentiate between civilians and militants in its toll, but has said women and children make up around half the dead.

The war was triggered by Hamas’ October 7 attack on southern Israel, in which militants killed some 1200 people and abducted 250 others.

With AP

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