US President Donald Trump Sets Weekend Deadline for Hamas to Endorse Gazan Ceasefire Proposal
US President Trump has issued a time limit to Hamas, calling for them to agree to a US-backed peace plan for the Gaza region otherwise risk intense consequences.
Through a post on his Truth Social channel on the end of the week, Trump stated that an agreement must be achieved by Sunday evening (10 PM GMT) on the coming Sunday.
This suggested plan includes an prompt halt to hostilities and the return within three days of 20 living Israel detainees held by Hamas—as well as the bodies of hostages believed to be dead—in return for a large number of imprisoned Gazans.
International mediators are reported to be pressing the organization for a favorable response to the offer, but a high-ranking group official has suggested that the militant group is likely to reject it.
"If this FINAL deal is not achieved, severe retaliation, like anyone has previously experienced, will erupt against the group. THERE WILL BE CALM IN THE REGION BY ANY MEANS," the President wrote in the online update.
Mediators have been in touch with the chief of the group's military wing in the territory, who has suggested that he does not agree to the latest US halt initiative, according to sources.
Sources indicate that a portion of Hamas's political wing in Qatar are open to agreeing to the agreement with adjustments—however have realized their leverage constrained as they do not have command over the hostages kept by the organization.
A further obstacle for a number of in Hamas is that the agreement necessitates them to release all the captives over the opening 72 hours of the truce—surrendering their primary negotiating tool.
Reports suggest to be forty-eight detainees presently being detained in the Gazan region by the militant faction, just twenty of whom are estimated to be living.
Israel's military launched a campaign in Gaza in retaliation to the group's offensive on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, in which roughly over a thousand civilians were lost their lives and hundreds additional individuals were taken hostage.
At least thousands of individuals have been lost their lives in Israeli operations in Gaza since then, based on data from the territory's Hamas-run health authority.