President Donald Trump yesterday warned Hamas “we will have no choice but to go in and kill them” if internal bloodshed persists in Gaza.
The grim warning from Trump came after he previously downplayed the internal violence in the territory since a ceasefire and hostage deal between Israel and Hamas went into effect last week in the two-year war.
Trump said that Hamas had taken out ‘a couple of gangs that were very bad’ and had killed a number of gang members. “That didn’t bother me much, to be honest with you,” he said.
The Republican president did not say how he would follow through on his threat posted on his Truth Social platform, and the White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment seeking clarity.
But Trump also made clear he had limited patience for the killings that Hamas was carrying out against rival factions inside the devastated territory.
“They will disarm, and if they don’t do so, we will disarm them, and it’ll happen quickly and perhaps violently,” Trump said.
The Hamas-run police maintained a high degree of public security after the fighters seized power in Gaza 18 years ago while also cracking down on dissent. The police largely melted away in recent months as Israeli forces seized large areas of Gaza and targeted Hamas security forces with air strikes.
Powerful local families and armed gangs, including some anti-Hamas factions backed by Israel, stepped into the void. Many are accused of hijacking humanitarian aid and selling it for profit, contributing to Gaza’s starvation crisis.
The ceasefire plan introduced by Trump had called for all hostages – living and dead – to be handed over by a deadline that expired on Monday. But under the deal, if that didn’t happen, Hamas was to share information about deceased hostages and try to hand them over as soon as possible.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday that Israel “will not compromise” and demanded that Hamas fulfil the requirements laid out in the ceasefire deal about the return of hostages’ bodies.
Hamas’ armed wing said in a statement on Wednesday that the group honoured the ceasefire’s terms and handed over the remains of the hostages it had access to.
l France and Britain, in co-ordination with the US, are working to finalise a UN Security Council resolution in the coming days that would lay the foundation for a future international force in Gaza, France said yesterday. With a shaky US-mediated ceasefire between Israel and Hamas holding, planning has begun for an international force to stabilise security in the Palestinian enclave, two senior US advisers said on Wednesday.
Speaking to reporters in Paris, French Foreign Ministry spokesperson Pascal Confavreux said such a force needed a UN mandate to provide a strong foundation in international law and ease the process of getting potential contributions from countries.
“France is working closely with its partners on the establishment of such an international mission, which must be formalised through the adoption of a UN Security Council resolution,” he said.
“Discussions, notably with the Americans and British, are ongoing to propose this resolution in the coming days.”
Paris earlier hosted talks with other European and Arab powers to flesh out ideas for Gaza’s post-war transition, including how an international force could take shape.
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