U.S. President Donald Trump, who mediated a ceasefire in the Palestinian Gaza Strip this month, once again warned Hamas that if they fail to uphold the agreement, they will be “eradicated.” He stated that if military action against Hamas becomes necessary, the U.S. would act in concert with other nations.
According to the Israeli news outlet Times of Israel (TOI), Trump held a press conference with Australian Prime Minister Albanese at the White House on Monday. During the event, he addressed Hamas, saying, “We made a deal with Hamas that they’re going to be very good, they’re going to behave, they’re going to be nice.” Trump added, “If they’re not, we’re going to go and we’re going to eradicate them if we have to. They’ll be eradicated. And they know that”
Hamas and Israel, which have been in conflict since 2023, began a ceasefire on October 10 following Trump’s proposed first phase of a Gaza peace agreement. However, the peace remains fragile. After Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza, Hamas moved to eliminate rival factions. In turn, Israel accused Hamas of failing to return the bodies of hostages as promised.
On October 14, referring to the second phase of the peace agreement, Trump claimed, “Hamas said they would disarm.” He continued, “If they don’t disarm voluntarily, we will do it for them. It won’t take long, and it will likely be violent.”
On October 16, Trump posted on his social media platform Truth Social, stating, “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.”
On October 19, Israel resumed airstrikes in the Gaza Strip on October 19 – just nine days into the ceasefire – after Hamas allegedly violated the agreement by attacking Israeli forces and killing two soldiers. On October 20, Trump commented on the incident, stating, “I don’t believe it was the leadership, but they had some rebellion in there among themselves. And they killed some people, you know, pretty lot of people.”
Trump explained, “We intend to give them a chance, hoping it will reduce the violence somewhat.” He warned, “They got very rambunctious, and they did things that they shouldn’t be doing. And if they keep doing it, then we’re going to go in and straighten it out.” He added, “it will happen very quickly and pretty violently, unfortunately.”
A high-level U.S. delegation, including Middle East Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, visited Israel on Monday to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. U.S. Vice President JD Vance is also scheduled to visit Israel on Tuesday.
Trump noted that Iran, which had previously supported Hamas, faced U.S. and Israeli airstrikes in June, leaving Hamas without any support. He asserted, “They must behave. If they don’t, they will be eliminated.”
On the same day, Trump remarked, “Many countries have contacted me, saying they witnessed Hamas’s murderous acts,” adding, “We are prepared to enter Gaza and resolve the situation.” TOI reported that while no country has publicly declared a deployment to Gaza, Indonesia, Azerbaijan, and Turkey have informally expressed their willingness to do so. Trump commented, “Israel, in particular, would enter Gaza and resolve the situation within two minutes if I asked,” but added, “We haven’t made that call yet. We want to give them a chance.”
