U.S. President Donald Trump issued a stern warning to Hamas after the terror group was caught executing fellow Palestinians amid the ceasefire with Israel.
“If Hamas continues to k!ll people in Gaza, which was not the Deal, we will have no choice but to go in and kill them,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social. “Thank you for your attention to this matter.”
Trump later clarified that US forces would not be involved in the renewed offensive he had threatened.
“It’s not going to be us, we won’t have to,” he said in the Oval Office Thursday. “There are people very close, very nearby that will go and they’ll do the trick very easily, but under our auspices.”
Trump had previously downplayed the prospect that US forces would need to get involved in peacekeeping as negotiators try to make headway on a permanent end to the war.
At one point, he declared the war was effectively “over.” Trump had also shrugged off early reports that Hamas was cracking down on so-called gangs in the Palestinian territory, even as footage emerged of an apparent public execution.
“They did take out a couple of gangs that were very bad,” Trump said on Tuesday. “And that didn’t bother me much, to be honest with you. That’s OK.”
Since then, videos have been shared online that show Hamas fighters participating in what appeared to be a public execution.
As part of Trump’s 20-point plan toward peace, Hamas members were to relinquish their weapons and give up power, something they have so far failed to do.
In turn, Hamas members who wished to leave Gaza would be given safe passage to another country.
Instead, Hamas fighters have been involved in violent clashes with rival Palestinian groups, as Israel’s forces have withdrawn.
During his Oval Office meeting on Tuesday with Argentinian President Javier Milei, Trump warned Hamas that they needed to stick to the terms of the agreement.
‘They will disarm, and if they don’t do so, we will disarm them, and it’ll happen quickly and perhaps violently,’ Trump said.
