Donald Trump warns Hamas to ‘back Gaza peace deal or else’
The US President is pushing hard to get his plan to end the Gaza war over the line, warning the Palestinian terror group to ‘move fast’ or ‘all bets are off’.
Donald Trump has warned terror group Hamas it must immediately green-light his historic plan to end the Gaza War or “all bets are off”, as hopes grew in Israel that all 48 of its remaining hostages could be home within days.
Mr Trump claimed he was on the brink of ending the “3000-year catastrophe” in the Middle East, and said he had given Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “no choice” but to accept a deal.
He even released an initial withdrawal line for Israeli forces in the event of a ceasefire this week.
As the world’s Jewish community approached the eve of the second anniversary of the October 7, 2023 massacre, Mr Netanyahu on Saturday (Sunday AEST) said all 48 of the hostages still being held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip should be back within days.
But fears persist that the Palestinian terror group will not follow through on the initial signs it would back the deal, amid reports of a split between Hamas’s political chiefs hiding in Qatar wanting to approve the Trump plan and militants in Gaza wanting to keep fighting.
Mr Trump on his Truth Social account shared pictures of mass protests in Tel Aviv calling for his deal to be signed.
Under the Trump plan, Hamas would disarm and play no role in the Palestinian territories, and a board of peace led by Mr Trump and former British prime minister Tony Blair would work with an Arab peacekeeping force to rebuild the Gaza Strip.
Mr Trump said Israel had agreed to an immediate ceasefire if Hamas signed up by his Sunday (Monday AEDT) deadline, and would move out of areas such as Gaza City to outlying regions like Rafah, before a further stage of withdrawal in coming weeks.
“After negotiations, Israel has agreed to the initial withdrawal line, which we have shown to, and shared with, Hamas. When Hamas confirms, the Ceasefire will be IMMEDIATELY effective, the Hostages and Prisoner Exchange will begin, and we will create the conditions for the next phase of withdrawal, which will bring us close to the end of this 3,000 YEAR CATASTROPHE,” Mr Trump posted.
“Hamas must move quickly, or else all bets will be off. I will not tolerate delay, which many think will happen, or any outcome where Gaza poses a threat again. Let’s get this done, FAST. Everyone will be treated fairly!”
With the war potentially nearing its end, Australian Jews are preparing to commemorate the October 7 massacre – the worst single-day mass killing of Jews since the Holocaust – on Tuesday.
Jewish leaders on Sunday said the trauma of the terrorist attacks were “ongoing”, and it would be “sustained and heightened” on the two-year anniversary.
Sydney’s Great Synagogue rabbi Benjamin Elton said the Jewish community had “not yet had closure on those terrible events”.
As the US-led peace talks appeared to present the first realistic glimmer of hope for the end of war in the Gaza Strip, Rabbi Elton said he hoped this would be the last wartime anniversary.
“My community, I think all Jewish communities, are ardently, fervently, praying for peace,” he said. “We are praying that Hamas will accept the deal that’s on the table, which ends hostilities in Gaza, which sees the hostages and the bodies of hostages coming home. That’s what we all want. We want peace in the Middle East, we want peace around the world.”
The federal opposition has said the Opera House should not be used as a backdrop for protest again on the days following the anniversary of the October 7 attacks.
Senior frontbencher Don Farrell on Friday said it was a decision for the NSW government whether it would allow the protest to go ahead, and stressed that freedom of speech must be practised in a “sensible way”.
Anthony Albanese over the weekend continued to back the Trump ceasefire plan and called on Hamas to sign up and disarm.
The US President on Saturday told the Axios news outlet that he expected Mr Netanyahu to follow through and support his plan.
“I said, ‘Bibi, this is your chance for victory’,” Mr Trump said.
“He was fine with it. He’s got to be fine with it.
“ He has no choice. With me, you’ve got to be fine.”
However, in a short Hebrew-language video on Saturday (Sunday AEST), Mr Netanyahu told Israelis the plan was “still not final” and “we are working hard on it”.
“I hope that, with God’s help, in the coming days, even during the Sukkot holiday, we will be able to announce the return of all the hostages – the living and the slain – in one go, with the IDF still deployed deep in Gaza,” he said.
“Hamas will be disarmed, and the Gaza Strip will be demilitarised,” he added, warning that “it will happen either diplomatically, according to the Trump plan, or militarily, by us”.
Mr Netanyahu also said he had sent a delegation to Egypt “to finalise technical details” as part of indirect talks on Monday (local time) between Israel, the US and Hamas to progress the ceasefire negotiations. “Our goal is to contain these negotiations to a time frame of a few days,” the Israeli Prime Minister said.
The Israeli negotiating team in Egypt will include Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, government hostage point-man Gal Hirsch, and officials from the country’s intelligence agencies Mossad and Shin Bet.
The talks also would discuss maps showing the expected withdrawal of Israeli forces from certain areas in Gaza said an official.
At the same time, Arab mediators are preparing for a “comprehensive dialogue” among Palestinians aimed at unifying their position on Gaza’s future. The Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Gaza’s second most powerful militant group, said it had accepted Hamas’ response, after rejecting the plan days earlier.
Under the plan, Hamas would release the remaining 48 hostages – about 20 are believed to be alive – within three days.
It would also give up power and disarm. In return, Israel would halt its offensive and withdraw from much of Gaza, release hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, and allow an influx of humanitarian aid and eventual reconstruction.
Hamas said it was willing to release the hostages and hand over power to other Palestinians, but other aspects of the plan required further consultations among Palestinians.
It didn’t address the issue of Hamas demilitarising.
Mr Netanyahu’s far-right coalition partners spoke out against the deal, but did not threaten immediately to leave the government. However, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir warned he’d remove his party from government if Hamas “continues to exist” after the release of the hostages, and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said Mr Netanyahu’s decision to stop the offensive in Gaza was “a serious mistake”.
Additional reporting: AP
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