WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump on Friday delivered a blunt ultimatum to Hamas, demanding the Palestinian militant group strike a peace deal with Israel by Sunday, 6 pm Washington time, or face devastating consequences.
Calling it the “last chance” for Hamas, Trump insisted the group must accept his 20-point peace plan, release Israeli hostages including the bodies of those killed and halt its two-year war with Israel. “There will be peace one way or the other,” Trump warned in a post on Truth Social.
The White House had earlier unveiled his proposal, describing it as both a roadmap to end the ongoing conflict and a blueprint for Gaza’s postwar administration. The plan calls for an immediate cessation of hostilities, staged Israeli withdrawals, and the release of hostages within 72 hours, in exchange for Palestinian prisoners being freed from Israeli jails.
Trump outlined the framework of a “Board of Peace” that would oversee Gaza’s transition, chaired by himself and joined by figures such as former British Prime Minister Tony Blair. Under the plan, Gaza would be administered by a temporary technocratic committee, with no forced displacement of Palestinians. The proposal also envisions a stabilization force in the enclave, expanded aid, and long-term economic development to transform Gaza into what Trump described as a “terror-free zone.”
Referring to Hamas’s October 7, 2023 assault on Israel as a “massacre,” Trump accused the group of decades of brutality. “As retribution for the October 7th attack on civilization, more than 25,000 Hamas soldiers have already been killed,” he claimed, while urging civilians to move to safer areas in Gaza. In his warning, he suggested that failure to comply would trigger overwhelming military retaliation: “If this agreement is not reached, all hell, like no one has ever seen before, will break out against Hamas.”
Hamas is still weighing the proposal, according to sources close to the group, though it has repeatedly opposed disarmament a key element of Trump’s framework. Many of the conditions echo earlier ceasefire efforts that previously failed.
Trump promised that his deal would also spare the remaining Hamas fighters, insisting that it was “a great one for all” and declaring that peace in the Middle East was imminent by agreement or by force.
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