In a stark and furious ultimatum that threatens to shatter the new Gaza peace deal, the U.S. President has warned Hamas that if it continues to kill people in its internal purges, “we will have no choice but to go in and kill them.” The blunt threat, delivered via a social media post on Thursday evening, is a direct response to Hamas’s violent reassertion of control in northern Gaza and casts the entire U.S.-brokered agreement into extreme jeopardy.
“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,” the President wrote. “Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
The statement is the first major crisis to confront the landmark peace initiative, which was signed just three days ago in a celebrated summit in Sharm El-Sheikh with the U.S. as a key guarantor. The President’s message makes it clear that Washington views the ongoing internal violence by Hamas as a fundamental violation of the agreement.
The “killings in Gaza” that the post refers to are not related to the conflict with Israel, which has been under a ceasefire since Saturday. Instead, they are the direct result of a Hamas campaign to consolidate its power in areas recently vacated by the Israeli military. This week, Hamas redeployed some 7,000 of its security forces to Gaza City and the north, issuing a chilling order to “cleanse the strip of outlaws and collaborators with Israel.”
This has led to a wave of internal clashes and reprisals. On Sunday, prominent Palestinian journalist Saleh al-Jaafari was shot and killed while filming these internal power struggles. Other reports from the ground describe Hamas setting up checkpoints and hunting down rivals and anyone suspected of collaborating with Israel or other factions during the war.
The U.S. President’s ultimatum frames this internal crackdown as a deal-breaker. The peace plan, which saw the successful release of 20 Israeli hostages on Monday, was predicated on a cessation of all hostilities to allow for the establishment of a new, independent technocratic government. Hamas’s decision to instead use the Israeli withdrawal as an opportunity to violently purge its opposition is seen by the White House as an act of profound bad faith.
The threat to “go in and kill them” is a clear green light for the Israeli military to re-engage. It implies that if Hamas does not immediately halt its internal crackdown, the United States will support a resumption of the Israeli offensive, specifically targeting the Hamas forces that have re-emerged. This would mean the instant collapse of the ceasefire and a return to full-scale war, just days after world leaders hailed a “historic dawn” for the region. The world now waits to see if Hamas will heed the direct and unambiguous warning from its most powerful guarantor.
