Trump warns Hamas: “Eradicated” if truce broken

US President Donald Trump warned on Monday that Hamas would be “eradicated” if it breached the truce with Israel, while saying he would first give the Palestinian militant group an opportunity to honour the agreement. The remarks came as Washington stepped up diplomatic activity to shore up the fragile ceasefire, sending senior envoys to the region after fresh violence threatened to unravel the deal.

Speaking at the White House while hosting Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Trump reiterated his role in brokering the Gaza arrangement nearly two weeks earlier and set out a stark choice for Hamas.

“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. And 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.”

He said the United States would give Hamas a “little chance” to comply, but warned that Washington and its partners — and Israel itself — were prepared to act rapidly and decisively should the group resume hostilities.

“We’re going to give it a little chance, and hopefully there will be a little less violence... But right now, you know, they’re violent people. They got very rambunctious… and if they keep doing it, then we’re going to go in and straighten it out, and it’ll happen very quickly and pretty violently.”

Hamas’s senior negotiator Khalil al-Hayya told Egypt’s Al-Qahera News that the movement remained committed to the ceasefire, while acknowledging difficulties in meeting some obligations, notably the handover of bodies.

“We are finding it extremely difficult to extract the bodies, but we are serious and working hard to extract them,” he said in remarks broadcast on Tuesday morning.
“The Gaza agreement will hold, because we want it to and our will to abide by it is strong.”

Trump has also publicly criticised Hamas for carrying out public executions of rivals and alleged collaborators as it attempts to reassert control in Gaza, urging the movement to halt such actions.

Despite his forceful rhetoric, Trump insisted that American forces would not be directly engaged in confronting Hamas. He said dozens of countries that have agreed to join an international stabilisation force for Gaza would be willing to intervene, and suggested Israel itself could move quickly if asked.

“In addition, you have Israel — they would go in in two minutes, if I asked them to go in. But right now, we haven’t said that.”

Trump argued Hamas is now weaker than before, partly because regional patron Iran is less likely to intervene following US and Israeli strikes earlier in the year.

“They don’t have the backing of really anybody anymore. They have to be good, and if they’re not good, they’ll be eradicated,” he stressed.

The White House dispatched senior officials to the region immediately after Trump’s remarks. Vice-President J.D. Vance travelled to Israel, joining two top US envoys who had already travelled there following weekend violence that threatened the ceasefire.

A spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and senior adviser Jared Kushner (Trump’s son-in-law) met Netanyahu on Monday to discuss “developments and updates in the region.” Vance and his wife Usha later departed Washington for Israel; the pair made no public comments to reporters en route and were also scheduled to meet Netanyahu.

Key points at a glance

Trump’s remarks underline the fragile balance that negotiators are trying to maintain: a public vow to punish any truce violations severely, coupled with a narrow window for Hamas to demonstrate compliance. As diplomats move between capitals and envoys confer in Jerusalem, the immediate future of the Gaza agreement will hinge on whether Hamas can meet its commitments — and on how quickly Israel, the United States and other partners are prepared to respond if it does not.