DONALD Trump has given Hamas 48 hours to agree to his peace plan – or “all hell” will break loose, he warned.
The President slammed down a deadline of 6pm on Sunday for the terror group to toe the line in a fiery Truth Social post.
Hamas is still deliberating over whether to accept Trump’s 20-point peace planAP
GettyTrump has thrown down a deadline for Hamas to agree to the deal[/caption]
White HouseA map handed out by the White House showing the phases of withdrawal of the IDF from the Gaza Strip[/caption]
Hamas is still deliberating whether to sign the 20-point peace deal presented by Trump alongside Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday.
Israel has already backed the blueprint, which involves an immediate ceasefire, the release of all hostages and Hamas disarming.
Trump said that Hamas’s lives could be “extinguished” if he gives the word.
He wrote: “Most of the rest are surrounded and MILITARILY TRAPPED, just waiting for me to give the word, “GO,” for their lives to be quickly extinguished.
“As for the rest, we know where and who you are, and you will be hunted down, and killed.”
Trump previously gave Hamas “three or four days” to put pen to paper – but without a specific cut-off.
Announcing the hard deadline, Trump blared: “An Agreement must be reached with Hamas by Sunday Evening at SIX (6) P.M., Washington, D.C. time.
“Every Country has signed on! If this LAST CHANCE agreement is not reached, all HELL, like no one has ever seen before, will break out against Hamas.”
Hamas is yet to give an official response to the plan, but its officials have given their thoughts to various news outlets.
Earlier this week, Izz al-Din al-Haddad, the most senior Hamas military commander still in Gaza, told the BBC that Trump’s plan “serves Israel’s interests and ignores those of the Palestinian people”.
He said Hamas would not agree to disarmament or the deployment of an international force in Gaza, describing the move as “a new form of occupation”.
These are fundamental terms of the plan, however.
Israel is currently expanding its offensive in Gaza City, said to be the last Hamas stronghold, and is warning all civilians there to move south.
Defence Minister Israel Katz warned this week that anyone who stays behind will be considered “terrorists and terror supporters”.
AFPThe President reiterated calls for anyone living in Gaza City to move south[/caption]
GettyTony Blair will co-chair the Board of Peace running Gaza alongside Trump, if the deal goes through[/caption]
Trump reinforced that message, urging: “I am asking that all innocent Palestinians immediately leave this area of potentially great future death for safer parts of Gaza.
“Everyone will be well cared for by those that are waiting to help.”
If Hamas agree, Tony Blair and Donald Trump will jointly govern Gaza on a Board of Peace until the Palestinian Authority is in shape to take over.
Trump said his blueprint had secured backing from the Muslim and Arab leaders of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE, Jordan, Turkey, Indonesia, Pakistan and Egypt.
However, Pakistan today distanced themselves from the terms, insisting they had been edited since Trump shared it with those leaders on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.
Harry Cole: ‘President of Peace’ strikes again
by Harry Cole, Editor-at-Large
THE self-proclaimed President of Peace is at it again, unveiling his 20 point peace plan for the Gaza war.
In typically understated fashion Donald Trump declared his meeting with Israel’s Netanyahu a “historic day for humanity”.
And to be fair convincing the hard man to sign up to a deal that could allow Hamas terrorists to walk free from their crimes was a big ask and an important moment.
Netanyahu is on board, with an oversight committee for Gaza led by Mr Trump and an astonishing late career comeback from Tony Blair.
No Gazan will be forced out of their home which was a major ask from European nations, while the cost of rebuilding of the pummelled strip will be shared around the region.
On paper this looks like decent terms to end horrors.
But as we saw with Ukraine and Putin, these deals can come to nothing if one side doesn’t agree.
So now the world waits on Hamas to accept the terms.
They’ve said no before and collapsed talks and continued their butchery countless times.
But given that the Hamas leadership has been taken out three times now, and up to 20,000 dead fighters have been killed – the organisation is on its knees.
How long can they realistically keep fighting?
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