‘Pay in hell if they don’t sign’: Trump sets Hamas a deadline to accept his Gaza peace plan

Hamas will have “three or four days” to accept a peace plan for Gaza under an ultimatum set by US President Donald Trump to force a swift agreement on his proposal with Israel to create a new authority to control the war-ravaged territory.

Trump set the deadline a day after revealing the sweeping peace proposal with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, making it clear that war would continue unless Hamas leaders agreed to cede control of the Palestinian territory.

Trump dismissed the likelihood of a negotiation with Hamas, a listed terrorist group, to modify the plan to form a “board of peace” to oversee Gaza, chaired by the president himself.

“Hamas is either going to be doing it or not, and if it’s not, it’s going to be a very sad end,” he told reporters. He added there was “not much” room for negotiations over the plan.

Later, in an address to US generals, the president said he hoped Hamas would sign up to the plan “for their own good”, and signalled that the war would get worse if they did not agree to the terms.

“We have one signature that we need, and that signature will pay in hell if they don’t sign,” he said.

Hamas appears to be split on how to respond to the proposal, with the BBC citing senior leaders who want to reject the proposal to disarm and hand over their weapons. Hamas members also object to the idea of a “stabilisation force” keeping the peace in Gaza because they regard this as an occupation.

But a report from CBS News said some Hamas leaders were leaning towards accepting the terms, citing a source close to the process. The decision could be presented to Egyptian and Qatari officials as soon as Wednesday.

The Palestinian Authority, which administers the West Bank but lost control of Gaza to Hamas after elections and internal fighting in 2006, has backed the Trump proposal.

“We have affirmed that we desire a modern, democratic, non-militarised Palestinian state that is committed to pluralism and the peaceful transfer of power,” it said in a statement.

The proposal would see an immediate truce in Gaza as long as Hamas agreed to release all Israeli hostages – alive and dead – including 47 who were abducted in the October 7 attack on Israeli civilians in 2023.

This would be followed by the release of “full aid” into Gaza and the rebuilding of hospitals as well as water, electricity and sewage. This would be overseen by a transitional authority led by the “board of peace” with members including former British prime minister Tony Blair.

Netanyahu, who agreed to the plan in a meeting with Trump in the White House on Monday, returned to Israel with a message that warned of continued war against Hamas in Gaza unless the hostages were released and the peace agreement accepted.

The Israeli prime minister said the proposal would not allow Hamas to stay in Gaza and rebuild its support under the new authority.

In a social media post, Netanyahu relayed what the president had told him in their White House meeting.

“President Trump added that if Hamas refuses, he will give Israel full backing to complete the military operation and eliminate them,” Netanyahu said in Hebrew on Instagram, according to a translation reported by The Washington Post.

The peace plan holds out incentives for Hamas to gain the release of its prisoners held in Israel and gain safe passage to third countries.

“Once all hostages are released, Israel will release 250 life sentence prisoners plus 1700 Gazans who were detained after October 7th 2023, including all women and children detained in that context,” the document says.

“For every Israeli hostage whose remains are released, Israel will release the remains of 15 deceased Gazans.

“Once all hostages are returned, Hamas members who commit to peaceful coexistence and to decommission their weapons will be given amnesty. Members of Hamas who wish to leave Gaza will be provided safe passage to receiving countries.”

Muslim nations including Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Pakistan, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, backed the proposal in a joint statement from their foreign ministers.

They emphasised the deal should lead to the unrestricted delivery of aid to Gaza, no displacement of the Palestinians, the release of hostages and a full Israeli withdrawal.

They also said it should ensure a “path for a just peace on the basis of the two-state solution” so that Gaza was fully integrated with the West Bank in a Palestinian state.

Trump set out no timetable for a Palestinian state but raised it as a possibility in the plan released on Monday.

“The United States will work with Arab and international partners to develop a temporary International Stabilisation Force (ISF) to immediately deploy in Gaza,” the document states.

“Israel will not occupy or annex Gaza. As the ISF establishes control and stability, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) will withdraw.

“The conditions may finally be in place for a credible pathway to Palestinian self-determination and statehood, which we recognise as the aspiration of the Palestinian people.”

While Trump has played down the chances of any negotiation over his proposal, Qatar suggested on Tuesday there should be detailed discussions over the terms and a clarification of the Israeli troop withdrawal from Gaza.

Three Arab officials told the Associated Press that changes had been made in the original proposal that Arab and Muslim countries had worked out with Trump – and that these changes were in favour of Israel.

The Arab officials expressed frustration to the AP about the 20 points in the White House plan, with one saying: “This is not what we agreed on. This is the Netanyahu plan.”

With fighting continuing in Gaza, the AP reported that Israeli troops opened fire on Palestinians attempting to access humanitarian aid in central Gaza, killing 17 and wounding 33 others. The news service cited nearby al-Awda Hospital, where the casualties were taken, as its source. The Israeli military said troops fired when individuals approached their position “in a manner that endangered them”.

Israeli strikes in central and southern Gaza killed 19 others, according to local hospitals.

Israel’s campaign in Gaza has killed more than 66,000 Palestinians and wounded nearly 170,000 others, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. The ministry has said women and children make up around half the dead.

The war was triggered by Hamas’ October 7 attack on southern Israel, in which the group, listed as a terrorist organisation in Australia, killed 1200 people and abducted 250 others. Hamas has also been designated a terrorist organisation by the European Union, the UK, the US and others.

With Reuters and AP

Get a note directly from our foreign correspondents on what’s making headlines around the world. Sign up for our weekly What in the World newsletter.