U.S. President Donald Trump warned that the terrorist group Hamas would face a “swift and brutal” end if it violates the Gaza ceasefire, amid reports that the organization has promised to stop executing residents accused of collaborating with Israel.
The warning came after Hamas gunmen executed several Gaza residents in public, hours after the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas took effect. The terrorist group claimed those killed were members of rival clans or suspected collaborators. The executions drew condemnation from mediators who cautioned that such actions could give Israel a pretext to renew fighting.
Arab officials involved in the mediation confirmed that Hamas had conveyed a commitment to halt further public executions. The message followed a series of warnings from Washington that internal violence in Gaza could endanger the ceasefire, which the United States brokered earlier this month.
Trump initially appeared unfazed by the executions, saying Hamas had “taken care of some gang members” and that “it doesn’t bother me.” But within days, he adopted a tougher tone, signaling that further bloodshed could prompt a direct or allied response.
Speaking to reporters at the White House, Trump said he could ask Israel to return to areas of Gaza from which the IDF had withdrawn and “eradicate” Hamas if necessary, though he was holding off for now to give the truce a chance to take hold.
“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 not, we’re going to eradicate them if we have to,” Trump said. “In addition, Israel would go in in two minutes if I asked them to go in. I could tell them, ‘Go in and take care of it.’ But right now, we haven’t said that. We’re going to give it a little chance.”
Trump added that he believed a deadly attack on IDF troops in Gaza on Sunday — which Israel blamed on Hamas and answered with airstrikes before reinstating the truce — was not ordered by the group’s leadership.
'They’re going to be nice, and if not, we’re going to eradicate them'
(Video: White House)
“I don’t believe it was the leadership, but they have some rebellion in there among themselves,” he said, referring to the internal killings within Gaza. “If they keep doing it, then we’re going to straighten it out, and it’ll happen very quickly and pretty violently.”
Trump said several countries in the Middle East had approached Washington offering to send forces into Gaza if Hamas continued to violate the ceasefire.
“Many of our allies in the Middle East and surrounding areas have told me explicitly that they would welcome our entry into Gaza with heavy force to straighten out Hamas if it continues to act badly,” he said. “I told those countries, and Israel, ‘not yet,’ because there’s still hope Hamas will do the right thing. But if not — Hamas’s end will be fast, furious and brutal.”
International force delayed
Trump’s 20-point plan for Gaza includes the rapid deployment of a “temporary international stabilization force,” but the proposal has yet to be implemented. Meanwhile, Hamas terrorists have redeployed across the Strip, working to restore control after weeks of fighting.
Diplomatic officials said several countries expected to contribute troops have expressed hesitation, fearing their forces could be drawn into direct confrontations with Hamas, which remains armed. Some governments have also said privately they will not send soldiers until the mission’s goals are clarified, while others cited concerns about stationing troops in Gaza’s dense urban centers and near the group’s tunnel networks.
Hamas fears a Lebanon-style campaign
The Arabic daily Asharq al-Awsat reported that Palestinian sources, including Hamas officials, said recent Israeli airstrikes across Gaza were not random. According to those accounts, five senior field commanders from Hamas’s military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, were killed and another was seriously wounded in targeted strikes.
Hamas sources said the group fears Israel may attempt to “repeat the Lebanese scenario” — continuing to eliminate operatives even after the ceasefire, as Israel has done with Hezbollah targets in Lebanon.
“Israel used a suicide drone last Sunday and eliminated the deputy commander of the western battalion in Jabalia while he was staying in an apartment near the port area west of Gaza City,” one Hamas source said.
The same source said the commander had directed several attacks on Israeli forces during the war and survived multiple assassination attempts. “He was among those who supervised the attack on the Zikim outpost on October 7,” the source added.
Ceasefire remains fragile
Despite the uneasy calm, concerns persist in Jerusalem, Washington, and Arab capitals that Hamas’s internal violence or renewed rocket fire could collapse the truce.
Trump said his administration remains committed to preserving the ceasefire but warned that continued violations by Hamas could trigger a powerful response.
“We’re going to give it a little chance,” he said. “But if they don’t behave nicely — they will be destroyed.”