President Donald Trump declared the current Israel-Hamas ceasefire an “enduring peace” on Saturday but laid preliminary blame squarely on the militant group should the deal collapse. The President made the comments to reporters during a refueling stop in Doha, where he met with Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani while en route to Malaysia.
“I think it will hold,” Trump said, expressing optimism about the U.S.-brokered agreement. However, he quickly pivoted to a threat should the truce fail: “Well, if it doesn’t hold, that would be Hamas. Hamas will be not hard to take care of very quickly.”
The President added: “I hope it holds for Hamas too because they gave us their word on something so I think it’s going to hold and if it doesn’t then they’ll have a very big problem.”
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The high-stakes ceasefire is intended to end the protracted conflict and facilitate a transition of security control in Gaza. A crucial element of the deal involves the planned deployment of an International Stabilization Force (ISF), a multinational body intended to take over security control from Hamas.
Trump praised the Qatari Emir for his nation’s mediation efforts and its forthcoming role, stating that Qatar would contribute peacekeeping troops to the ISF “at the time they need to.”
“It’s a great success. It’s going to be a long lasting. Hopefully everlasting peace,” Trump asserted, noting the wide-ranging regional support for the arrangement.
Hostage Bodies and Disarmament
Later in the day, the President took to Truth Social to pressure Hamas regarding one of the deal’s obligations.
He warned that the militant group “is going to have to start returning the bodies of the deceased hostages, including two Americans, quickly, or the other Countries involved in this GREAT PEACE will take action.”
Trump noted that some of the bodies “they can return now and, for some reason, they are not,” suggesting the delay might be tied to their resistance to disarming. The full stabilization plan requires Hamas to disarm and relinquish control of the Gaza Strip to allow a technocratic government to form.
“Let’s see what they do over the next 48 hours. I am watching this very closely,” Trump wrote.
The President’s comments echo a stern warning issued earlier this week by Vice President Vance, who was in Israel inaugurating the U.S.-led Civilian-Military Coordination Center (CMCC) overseeing the ceasefire.
“Hamas has to comply with the deal, and if Hamas doesn’t comply with the deal, very bad things are going to happen,” Vance stated, reiterating the administration’s demands on the U.S.-designated terrorist organization.
The administration previously warned that if Hamas violates the ceasefire, the response will “happen very quickly and pretty violently, unfortunately, we are going to eradicate Hamas.” So far, no deadline has been set for Hamas to fully relinquish power over the Gaza Strip.
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