President Trump said Friday that he is issuing a Sunday evening deadline for Hamas to agree to a U.S. peace proposal, backed by the Israeli government, to end the war in Gaza.
“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,” Mr Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.
“We will have PEACE in the Middle East one way or the other. The violence and bloodshed will stop,” Mr. Trump said.
A peace plan unveiled on Sept. 29 by President Trump, and endorsed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, called for Hamas to free all remaining Israeli hostages within 72 hours and for the Israeli military to begin withdrawing from parts of the Gaza Strip in phases. It also proposed handing over parts of Gaza to a “technocratic” Palestinian committee and deploying a temporary security force backed by Arab states. Mr. Trump would chair the committee which he has called a “Board of Peace.”
Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair would also be on the “Board of Peace,” and, according to the 20 point proposal, Israel would maintain security control around the perimeter of Gaza.
Israel and Hamas have been at war since Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas-led terrorists attacked southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages. Since then, Israel has waged an intense aerial bombardment and ground campaign in the Gaza Strip.. More than 66,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry, which does not specify how many of the dead were civilians or militants.
Some 50 hostages are still in Gaza, fewer than half of whom are believed to be alive, according to Israeli authorities.