President Trump said Middle Eastern countries will fight Hamas at the request of the U.S. if the terrorist group doesn’t maintain the peace deal it agreed to with Israel.
The ceasefire in Gaza is still in place despite Israel bombing the area Sunday after it accused Hamas of violating the agreement and attacking Israeli forces in Rafah.
“Numerous of our NOW GREAT ALLIES in the Middle East, and areas surrounding the Middle East, have explicitly and strongly, with great enthusiasm, informed me that they would welcome the opportunity, at my request, to go into GAZA with a heavy force and ’straighten our Hamas’ if Hamas continues to act badly, in violation of their agreement with us,” Mr. Trump posted Tuesday onTruth Social.
“The love and spirit for the Middle East has not been seen like this in a thousand years! It is a beautiful thing to behold!” he added.
The president said he told the countries, “‘NOT YET!’ There is still hope that Hamas will do what is right.
“If they do not, an end to Hamas will be FAST, FURIOUS, & BRUTAL! I would like to thank all of those countries that called to help.”
The president on Sunday said he thought Hamas leadership may not have engineered the attack on Israeli soldiers. When asked if he thought Israel’s strike was justified, he said he would “have to get back to you on that.”
Hamas has said it was not involved in the attack and that it reaffirms a “full commitment to implement everything that was agreed upon.”
The ceasefire is just over 10 days old, and Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, along with Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law, and Vice President J.D. Vance are in Israel to push for continued support of the ceasefire and phase 2 of Mr. Trump’s 20-point peace plan.
Both Hamas and Israel have released live and dead hostages, along with Palestinian prisoners, as part of the deal. The next phase is expected to focus on the disarmament of Hamas, the withdrawal of Israel from the area, and new governance for the area.
• Mallory Wilson can be reached at mwilson@washingtontimes.com.
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