US President Donald Trump has given Hamas (a Palestinian group recognised as a terrorist group in the EU and the US) until Sunday evening, 5 October, to agree to his peace plan for the Gaza Strip. Otherwise, “real hell” awaits the Palestinian militants, the US leader said.
“An agreement with Hamas must be reached by six o’clock Sunday evening Washington time. All countries have already joined the agreement! If this latest offer is not accepted, hell will break loose for Hamas like no one has ever seen before,” Trump wrote on social media on 3 October, calling on Hamas to release all hostages and hand over the bodies of the dead.
In the post, Trump also urged “innocent Palestinians” to evacuate an unnamed area in anticipation of a potential attack on the remnants of Hamas forces.
“I ask all innocent Palestinians to immediately leave this area of potential future great death and move to safer parts of Gaza,” the US president said.
There has been no response to Hamas regarding the deal offered by Trump yet.
Earlier this week, US President Donald Trump said Israel and other countries are “very close” to reaching an agreement to end the war in the Gaza Strip. At a joint press conference after meeting with Israel’s prime minister, Trump said Benjamin Netanyahu had endorsed the US-proposed peace plan for Gaza. According to the US president, there are positive signals that Hamas will also agree to it. If not, Trump said the US will support Israel until Hamas is completely destroyed.
“We are very close, closer than close… We are talking about the future not just in Gaza, about peace in the Middle East,” Trump said, noting that countries in the region support the plan and it could be about establishing “everlasting peace” in the region.
Hamas confirmed that the mediators have handed the group’s representatives the plan and it will be discussed.
The plan stipulates, among other things, that Hamas will relinquish power in Gaza and disarm. However, members of the group who lay down their arms will not be prosecuted.
A number of Arab and Islamic countries, as well as European states, welcomed Trump’s peace plan released by the White House.