'They'll be eradicated': Trump's fresh warning to Hamas on Gaza deal day after Israeli strikes
Trump's remarks came a day after Israel launched strikes against Hamas and suspended aid shipments as it blamed the group for an ambush that killed two soldiers
US President Donald Trump on Monday warned Palestinian group Hamas that it would be "eradicated" if it fails to honour the Gaza peace deal with Israel.
"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," Trump told reporters at the White House as he met Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
"And if they're not, we're going to go and we're going to eradicate them, if we have to. They'll be eradicated, and they know that," the US President added.
Trump's remarks came a day after Israel launched strikes against Hamas in Gaza and suspended aid shipments as it blamed the group for an ambush that killed two soldiers. At least 45 Palestinians have been killed across Gaza in the Israeli strikes, including children.
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Meanwhile, two of the US envoys to the Middle East met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier today. Israel has since resumed the ceasefire and reopened the Kerem Shalom border crossing into Gaza for aid shipments, a security official told AFP.
Trump, while speaking in The White House, said the US forces would not be involved against Hamas, adding that the dozens of countries that have agreed to join an international stabilization forces for Gaza would "love to go in."
"In addition, you have Israel would go in in two minutes, if I asked them to go in," Trump said.
"But right now, we haven't said that. We're going to give it a little chance, and hopefully there will be a little less violence. But right now, you know, they're violent people," he added.
Also Read: ‘I’ll have to…': Trump's first response after Israel violates Gaza ceasefire that he brokered
Trump also said that Hamas was now far weaker, especially given that regional backer Iran was now unlikely to step in on its behalf following US and Israeli strikes earlier this year.
A Hamas delegation has also arrived in Cairo on Monday for talks with Qatari and Egyptian mediators on the continuation of the truce, AFP quoted sources as saying.
Hamas has so far released the 20 surviving hostages and is in the process of returning the remaining bodies of those who have died.
