US President Donald Trump Issues Weekend Ultimatum for Hamas to Endorse Gaza Peace Plan
President Trump has delivered a deadline to the Hamas organization, requiring them to agree to a proposed ceasefire agreement for Gaza or risk extreme consequences.
Through a message on his Truth Social channel on Friday, the President stated that an deal must be reached by 6 PM EST (22:00 GMT) on the coming Sunday.
The suggested agreement involves an immediate cessation to hostilities and the freeing within three days of twenty living Israeli captives kept by the group—plus the bodies of individuals believed to be no longer alive—in exchange for many of imprisoned residents.
International negotiators are understood to be urging Hamas for a agreeable reply to the offer, but a prominent Hamas representative has stated that the militant faction is probable to reject it.
"If this FINAL deal is not reached, extreme consequences, like nobody has ever seen, will erupt against the group. THERE WILL BE PEACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST NO MATTER WHAT," the President stated in the online post.
Intermediaries have been in touch with the leader of Hamas's combat unit in Gaza, who has indicated that he does not agree to the new American halt plan, as per sources.
It is thought that some of the group's leadership in the Gulf state are open to endorsing the proposal with adjustments—however have found their leverage restricted as they are without control over the hostages held by the organization.
An additional obstacle for certain in Hamas is that the agreement requires them to hand over the entirety of the captives over the initial 72 hours of the truce—relinquishing their primary bargaining chip.
Reports suggest to be 48 captives still being detained in the Palestinian territory by the militant faction, merely twenty of whom are believed to be surviving.
The Israeli military launched a operation in Gaza in response to the group's assault on Israeli territory on a previous date, in which about 1,200 individuals were lost their lives and 251 others were taken hostage.
No fewer than sixty-six thousand two hundred eighty-eight residents have been fatally injured in Israel's attacks in Gaza following the start, as reported by the territory's group-administered health authority.