Trump warns Hamas: Stop Gaza killings or face total U.S.-backed offensive

By Kazeem Ugbodaga

In a blunt escalation of rhetoric that has defined his approach to Middle East peacemaking, President Donald Trump warned Hamas on Thursday that continued internal violence in Gaza would force a return to all-out conflict, potentially unraveling the fragile ceasefire he brokered just last week.

“If Hamas continues to kill people in Gaza, which was not the Deal, we will have no choice but to go in and kill them,” Trump declared in a pointed social media post, marking a sharp pivot from his earlier dismissal of the unrest as mere “gang cleanup.”

The president’s stark message comes amid reports of public executions carried out by Hamas fighters in Gaza City’s central square, where the group has moved aggressively to reassert control over rival factions and alleged collaborators in the power vacuum left by Israel’s partial military withdrawal.

Eyewitness accounts and videos circulating online depict Hamas gunmen summarily shooting detainees, with the group issuing ultimatums for suspected Israeli sympathizers to surrender by Sunday or face death.

These clashes, which have claimed dozens of lives since the ceasefire took hold, represent a grim undercurrent to what Trump has hailed as a historic breakthrough in the two-year Israel-Hamas war.

The ceasefire, the first major pause in hostilities since October 2023, emerged from Trump’s ambitious 20-point peace blueprint, which he touted as a cornerstone of his second-term foreign policy.

Phase One of the plan centred on the release of all Israeli hostages held by Hamas, has seen partial success: All 20 living captives were returned to Israel within the mandated 72-hour window, a development Trump described as “paramount” during a recent interview.

However, complications persist with the deceased. Hamas has delivered the bodies of eight individuals, though Israeli officials confirmed one does not belong to a hostage, and four to five more remains are slated for handover imminently.

Buried under rubble from years of bombardment, recovering the rest requires specialized equipment and international assistance, including U.S.-provided intelligence and logistics, according to senior American advisers.

Trump’s plan envisions a demilitarized Gaza under independent international monitoring, with no governance role for Hamas and amnesty offered to its members who lay down arms and commit to peaceful coexistence.

Safe passage out of the territory would be granted to those opting for exile. Yet Phase Two-Hamas’s full disarmament, has stalled amid the infighting, prompting Israel to accuse the group of breaching the accord and withhold some humanitarian aid shipments.

In a phone call with CNN earlier this week, Trump revealed he had personally intervened to restrain Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, recounting a heated exchange: “I had it out with Bibi,” he said, adding that Israeli forces could “return to those streets as soon as I say the word” if compliance falters.

The internal strife in Gaza underscores the precariousness of Trump’s diplomatic gamble. What began as isolated skirmishes between Hamas and splinter groups like the Popular Resistance Committees has ballooned into a territorial power struggle, with Hamas fighters reemerging on streets once patrolled by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).

Local residents, speaking anonymously to reporters, describe a climate of fear, with aid trucks looted and basic services collapsing anew.

Trump, who initially framed the violence as Hamas “clearing out violent gangs,” now appears to view it as a direct threat to his vision of expanded Abraham Accords, potentially encompassing 59 nations and sidelining Iran as a regional spoiler.

Reactions have poured in swiftly. Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem condemned Trump’s threats as inflammatory, arguing they “complicate matters regarding the ceasefire agreement and encourage the occupation [Israel] to avoid implementing its terms.”

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz echoed the urgency, issuing his own “final warning” to Hamas earlier this month, demanding disarmament or risking Gaza’s destruction.

From the White House, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt struck a more measured tone during a briefing, emphasizing U.S. commitment to facilitating body recoveries “with special equipment” and seeing the process through, without a firm new deadline.