US President Donald Trump has given Hamas until Sunday evening to accept a US-backed peace proposal for Gaza, warning the group it will face “all hell” if it refuses.
Trump posted the ultimatum on his Truth Social platform on Friday, saying an agreement must be reached by 18:00 Washington time (22:00 GMT) on Sunday.
The plan calls for an immediate ceasefire and the release within 72 hours of 20 Israeli hostages believed to be alive, as well as the remains of others thought to have been killed. In return, Israel would release hundreds of Palestinian detainees.
Arab and Turkish mediators are urging Hamas to accept the deal, but a senior Hamas figure has indicated the group is likely to reject it. Mediators have contacted the head of Hamas’s military wing in Gaza, who signaled opposition to the plan, the BBC reports.
Some of Hamas’s political leaders in Qatar are said to be open to the proposal with modifications, but their influence is limited as they do not control the hostages.
A key sticking point is the requirement that all hostages be released within the first 72 hours of the ceasefire, a condition some Hamas members argue would remove their main source of leverage.
An estimated 48 hostages remain in Gaza, of whom around 20 are believed to be alive.
Israel launched its military campaign in Gaza following the Hamas-led assault on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others taken hostage.
Since then, at least 66,288 people have been killed in Gaza, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.
Trump said the proposal was a “LAST CHANCE agreement” and declared: “There will be peace in the Middle East one way or the other.”