Trump threatens to ‘go in and kill’ Hamas if it doesn’t stop Gaza killings

WASHINGTON – US President Donald Trump threatened Hamas with reprisals if the group continued killings inside Gaza, saying that such action violated the ceasefire agreement he helped broker with Israel.

“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,” Mr Trump posted on social media on Oct 16. “Thank you for your attention to this matter!”

The President’s remarks appeared to open the door for direct US military action in Gaza, which would mark an escalation from previous statements from the administration warning that the US would back renewed Israeli strikes if the terms of the deal were violated.

Mr Trump later on Oct 16 told reporters that American forces would not need to hit Hamas. 

“Somebody will go in. It’s not going to be us. We won’t have to. There are people very close, very nearby, that will go in. They’ll do the trick very easily, but under our auspices,” the President said, without specifying who that would be. 

US officials have repeatedly said the military would not be directly involved in the Israel-Palestinian conflict.

US Vice-President J.D. Vance said on Oct 12 on NBC’s Meet The Press that “we’re not planning to put boots on the ground” in Gaza and that 200 US troops were being placed in Israel to simply “monitor the terms of the ceasefire”.

The developments pointed to the fragile nature of the truce between Israel and Hamas, which Mr Trump travelled to the Middle East
to celebrate just three days ago.

Violence continues to simmer in pockets of Gaza, as Hamas gunmen battled rival Palestinian factions.

On Oct 12, video footage circulated on social media of a public execution of six men whom the group had accused of espionage and insurrection. 

Mr Trump’s warning came hours after Hamas said it could not produce the bodies
of additional hostages without special machinery.

Israel has accused the group of not trying hard enough, saying that the remains of at least a dozen more people should be turned over under the ceasefire agreement.

Earlier on Oct 16, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that the President’s son-in-law, Mr Jared Kushner, and special envoy Steve Witkoff were “actively working” on issues around implementing the deal.

“They are continuing to discuss this with both sides to ensure that all of the bodies are found and returned,” Ms Leavitt told Fox News. BLOOMBERG