As Hamas weighs response, US threatens 'tragic' outcome if it rejected Trump's Gaza plan
Hamas has an opportunity to accept Trump's 20-point plan, and if it dismisses the proposal, "the consequences, unfortunately, will be very tragic," warns White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.
Washington, DC — The White House has stated that Hamas must embrace US President Donald Trump's ceasefire and prisoner swap proposal or face "tragic consequences" if the Palestinian resistance group does not respond positively to the offer by Sunday evening.
"President has made it very clear to Hamas that this is an acceptable and detailed proposal that they must accept or the consequences are going to be very grave for them and he has given them a deadline of Sunday evening at 6 p.m," White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt told media on Friday.
Trump said earlier on Friday that Hamas must agree to a proposed peace deal for Gaza by 6 p.m. Eastern time on Sunday and threatened the group will suffer more attacks if it doesn’t.
Trump said on social media, "Every Country has signed on! If this LAST CHANCE agreement is not reached, all HELL, like no one has ever seen before, will break out against Hamas." The Republican president said, "THERE WILL BE PEACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST ONE WAY OR THE OTHER."
The president unveiled the plan alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier this week.
Hamas has said it will soon deliver its response to Trump's proposed plan.
"Hamas is discussing the plan seriously, regardless of the many reservations we have," senior Hamas leader Mohammed Nazzal told Al Jazeera television in Doha on Thursday.
He noted the movement sought understandings free from time constraints and threats, adding that internal and external consultations had commenced.
The final response, Nazzal said, "will take into account the interests of the Palestinian people and the strategic constants of the Palestinian cause".
'Inherited this mess from Biden administration'
"I think the entire world should hear the President of the United States loud and clear, and Hamas has an opportunity to accept this plan and to move forward in a peaceful and prosperous manner in the region. And if they don't, the consequences, unfortunately, are going to be very tragic," Leavitt added.
Asked if Trump will supports Netanyahu if Hamas rejects the proposal despite UN report finding that Israel was committing genocide in Gaza, Leavitt said Trump is deeply concerned about the atrocities in the Middle East, insisting that the Republican leader inherited the crisis from the previous Democratic President Joe Biden.
"President has deep concerns about all of the atrocities that have taken place in the Middle East over the past few years. It's deeply unfortunate that he inherited this mess from the Biden administration," she said.
Under President Trump's first term, she said, the Middle East was progressing toward peace, touting Abraham Accords and Israel's normalisation with some Arab nations.
"If you all recall, under President Trump in his first term, the Middle East was on a pathway for peace and prosperity. There was the historic signing of the Abraham Accords. Israel was on a path to normalisation between Arab and Gulf nations, and we hope that can continue," Leavitt stated.
Report says Netanyahu got plan amended
On September 29, Trump, during a press conference with Netanyahu, issued a 20-point detailed plan calling to end Israel's brutal war in Gaza, followed by a comprehensive programme for reconstruction and a reorganisation of the enclave's political and security situation.
The plan, that also includes withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza and establishing long-term peace leading to Palestinian statehood, was announced after Trump met with leaders of Arab and Islamic nations at the UN in New York.
Egyptian, Qatari, and Pakistani officials have stated the plan contained gaps and differed from the draft proposed by Arab and Muslim nations.
"I made it clear that the 20 points that President (Donald) Trump made public are not ours. Changes were made to our draft. I have the record," Pakistan's Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said, according to remarks carried by Dawn news website on Friday.
Even as world leaders have endorsed the plan, Netanyahu reportedly got the plan altered and later boasted in a video that Israeli military "will remain in most of the territory [GAZA]", and that Israel did "absolutely not" agree to a Palestinian state.
According to US news website, Axios, the proposal announced by Trump contained "significant changes", demanded by Netanyahu, to the draft that had been agreed on by the Muslim leaders and Trump.
The amendments were made during a six-hour meeting between Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Netanyahu, Axios reported.