Trump Issues Stern Warning to Hamas To Stop Killings, Gives Short Deadline

President Donald Trump warned Hamas to halt killings in Gaza and observe the ceasefire, saying that while United States would not send forces into the enclave, a broad international coalition stands ready to act militarily if the terrorists fail to comply.

Asked who he meant by “we,” when he said “we are ready,” and whether that included American troops, Trump responded: “No, it won’t be on the ground at all. We don’t need to, because we have many countries, as you know, signed on to this deal. The way I view it, 59 countries…nobody ever believed it was countries that, four months ago, didn’t like each other, and now they’re all aligned together.

“We’ve had countries calling me when they saw the some of the killing with Hamas, saying we’d love to go in and take care of the situation ourselves. In addition, you have Israel would go in in two minutes if I asked him to go in. I could tell him, go in and take care of it. But right now, we haven’t said that.

We’re going to give it [Hamas] a little chance, and hopefully there will be a little less violence. But right now, you know, they’re violent people. Hamas has been very violent, but they don’t have the backing of Iran anymore. They don’t have the backing of really anybody anymore. They have to be good, and if they’re not good, they’ll be eradicated.”

Trump’s remarks come amid fragile ceasefire and hostage-negotiation efforts that Washington and regional mediators have been leading. Officials and outside analysts say the president’s public threats are meant to pressure Hamas to comply with the terms of the deal — including disarmament and the return of hostages.