US President Donald Trump Gives Weekend Deadline for the Militant Group to Accept Gazan Peace Plan
US President Trump has set a time limit to the Hamas organization, calling for them to agree to a proposed settlement for Gaza or else confront intense actions.
Via a statement on his social media channel on the end of the week, Trump declared that an agreement must be achieved by 6 PM EST (22:00 GMT) on Sunday.
The outlined agreement includes an swift end to hostilities and the release within 72 hours of 20 surviving Israeli hostages captured by the group—along with the remains of individuals presumed to be no longer alive—in return for hundreds of imprisoned Palestinians.
Regional intermediaries are believed to be pressing Hamas for a agreeable reply to the offer, but a senior group representative has stated that the militant group is probable to decline it.
"Should this FINAL deal is not reached, extreme consequences, as nobody has ever seen, will erupt against Hamas. WE WILL ENSURE CALM IN THE AREA NO MATTER WHAT," Trump posted in the Truth Social message.
Mediators have communicated with the leader of the group's military wing in Gaza, who has signaled that he does not agree to the latest American truce plan, based on reports.
Sources indicate that certain members of the group's political leadership in the Gulf state are open to accepting the proposal with adjustments—but have discovered their leverage limited as they lack authority over the captives held by the group.
An additional stumbling block for a number of in Hamas is that the proposal necessitates them to hand over each and every the hostages over the opening short window of the halt—giving away their only negotiating tool.
Reports suggest to be forty-eight hostages presently being kept in the Palestinian territory by the militant group, only 20 of whom are estimated to be living.
The Israeli defense forces began a operation in the Gaza Strip in retaliation to the group's offensive on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, in which roughly twelve hundred civilians were killed and hundreds additional individuals were captured.
A minimum of 66,288 people have been lost their lives in Israeli attacks in Gaza from that point, as reported by the region's Hamas-run health authority.
