Trump Sets Sunday Deadline for the Militant Group to Agree to Gaza Peace Plan
President Donald Trump has issued a time limit to the Hamas organization, requiring them to accept a proposed settlement for Gaza or face extreme actions.
In a post on his online channel on Friday, Trump announced that an deal must be reached by 18:00 Washington time (10 PM GMT) on the coming Sunday.
The suggested proposal includes an immediate end to hostilities and the release within 72 hours of twenty surviving Israel captives held by Hamas—as well as the remains of individuals presumed to be no longer alive—in return for hundreds of arrested residents.
Regional mediators are reported to be pressing the organization for a agreeable reply to the offer, but a high-ranking Hamas figure has indicated that the armed group is likely to decline it.
"If this ULTIMATE deal is not achieved, severe retaliation, as no one has ever experienced, will occur against the group. WE WILL ENSURE PEACE IN THE AREA BY ANY MEANS," the President posted in the Truth Social message.
Intermediaries have made contact with the leader of Hamas's armed faction in the territory, who has signaled that he is opposed to the recent American ceasefire plan, according to reports.
There is belief that a portion of Hamas's political leadership in the Gulf state are receptive to accepting the plan with adjustments—but have discovered their influence limited as they are without command over the hostages detained by the faction.
An additional stumbling block for some in Hamas is that the agreement necessitates them to release all the detainees over the opening three-day period of the halt—giving away their primary negotiating tool.
Reports suggest to be forty-eight hostages currently being kept in the Gazan territory by the armed faction, just twenty of whom are estimated to be alive.
Israel's defense forces began a offensive in the Gaza Strip in response to the Hamas-led assault on the region on 7 October 2023, in which approximately 1,200 civilians were killed and 251 additional individuals were captured.
At least 66,288 individuals have been fatally injured in Israeli strikes in Gaza following the start, according to the region's Hamas-run health authority.