President Donald Trump on Thursday warned Hamas “we will have no choice but to go in and kill them” if internal bloodshed persists in Gaza.
The grim warning from Trump came after he previously downplayed the internal violence in the territory since a ceasefire went into effect last week.
Trump said Tuesday that Hamas had taken out “a couple of gangs that were very bad" and had killed a number of gang members. “That didn't bother me much, to be honest with you,” he said.
The United States president did not say how he would follow through on his threat posted on his Truth Social platform, and the White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment seeking clarity.
But Trump also made clear he had limited patience for the killings that Hamas was carrying out against rival factions inside the devastated territory.
“They will disarm, and if they don't do so, we will disarm them, and it'll happen quickly and perhaps violently," Trump said.
The ceasefire plan introduced by Trump had called for all hostages — living and dead — to be handed over by a deadline that expired Monday. But under the deal, if that didn't happen, Hamas was to share information about deceased hostages and try to hand them over as soon as possible.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday that Israel “will not compromise” and demanded that Hamas fulfil the requirements laid out in the ceasefire deal about the return of hostages' bodies.
Hamas' armed wing said in a statement Wednesday that the group honored the ceasefire's terms and handed over the remains of the hostages it had access to.
The United States announced last week that it is sending about 200 troops to Israel to help support and monitor the ceasefire deal in Gaza as part of a team that includes partner nations and nongovernmental organisations. But US officials have stressed that US forces would not set foot in Gaza.
Israeli officials have also been angered by the pace of the return of the remains of dead hostages the militant group had been holding in captivity. Hamas had agreed to return 28 bodies as part of the ceasefire deal in addition to 20 living hostages, who were released earlier this week.
Hamas has assured the US through intermediaries that it is working to return dead hostages, according to two senior US advisers. The advisers, who were not authorised to comment publicly and briefed reporters on the condition of anonymity, said they do not believe Hamas has violated the deal.
Hamas says return of Israeli hostages' bodies may take time
Hamas said on Thursday the return of Israeli hostages' bodies may take time as some were buried in tunnels destroyed by Israel and others remain under the rubble of buildings that Israel bombed and destroyed, adding the group remained committed to the Gaza agreement and keen to hand over all the remaining bodies of the hostages held in Gaza.
The retrieval of the remaining bodies required equipment to remove rubble, which was currently unavailable due to Israel’s ban on entry of such tools, Hamas added.