US President Donald Trump has warned Hamas to stop “killing people” in Gaza, declaring that such actions were not part of the ongoing peace arrangement.
On Tuesday, Trump stated that he had granted Hamas temporary approval to deal with several dozen Palestinians from rival groups while maintaining order in Gaza.
“They do want to stop the problems, and they’ve been open about it, and we gave them approval for a period of time,” the US president said in response to a journalist’s question about reports that Hamas was executing rivals and positioning itself as a policing authority.
On Wednesday, the commander of US forces in the Middle East demanded that Hamas immediately end attacks on “innocent Palestinian civilians”.
However, it appears Hamas did not comply, prompting Trump to issue a direct threat against members of the group.
“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,” Trump warned in a post on Truth Social on Thursday.
His statement comes amid growing tension between Israel and Hamas over the release of deceased hostages, a key element of the ongoing ceasefire deal.
Gaza’s media office earlier confirmed that it had received 120 bodies of Palestinians previously held in Israeli detention.
The office said the bodies, which have yet to be fully identified, showed “conclusive evidence of field executions and brutal torture”.
According to the report, the remains bore signs of hanging, rope marks around the neck, gunshot wounds at close range, plastic restraints on hands and feet, blindfolds, crushing injuries attributed to Israeli tank tracks, as well as fractures, burns, and deep wounds consistent with “severe physical torture”.
Israel has so far released 29 hostages—nine confirmed dead.
Hamas abducted 251 people in its October 7, 2023 attack on Israel. Since then, Israel has recovered at least 168 hostages alive throughout the two-year conflict.
Israel continues to insist that Hamas return all deceased captives.
Under the Trump ceasefire deal, Hamas was given 72 hours to hand over every hostage—both alive and dead. That deadline expired on Monday, October 13.