United States President Donald Trump has issued a weekend ultimatum for Hamas to accept his 20-point plan for a ceasefire in Gaza, as Israel’s war on the territory grinds on.

On Friday, the Republican leader took to his social media platform Truth Social to denounce Hamas as a “ruthless and violent threat” and to pressure it to accept his proposal.

He warned that an agreement must be reached by 6pm US Eastern time (22:00 GMT) on Sunday, or else Gaza would face further violence.

“If this LAST CHANCE agreement is not reached, all HELL, like no one has ever seen before, will break out against Hamas. THERE WILL BE PEACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST ONE WAY OR THE OTHER,” Trump wrote in a lengthy, 329-word post.

The Trump administration had discussed the peace plan with a group of Arab and Muslim leaders in September on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.

Then, on Monday, as he welcomed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for a fourth visit to the White House, Trump unveiled the full text of the plan.

On Friday, after his post went online, Hamas signalled it would move forward with some parts of Trump’s plan, including the return of all Israeli captives, both living and dead.

“In this context, the movement affirms its readiness to immediately enter into negotiations through the mediators to discuss the details of this agreement,” Hamas said in a statement on Telegram.

But the group expressed reticence about other elements of the proposal, saying they needed to be “addressed through a comprehensive Palestinian national framework, in which Hamas will participate and contribute responsibly”.

Terms of Trump’s plan

The text does not include a pathway to Palestinian statehood, a major point of contention. And it makes few demands of Israel, whose military campaign in Gaza has killed more than 66,000 Palestinians, many of them women and children.

An independent UN commission in September determined that Israel’s actions in Gaza amounted to the crime of genocide, confirming similar reports from human rights observers.

But Trump’s outline does set forth a plan to “redevelop” Gaza into a “deradicalised terror-free zone that does not pose a threat to its neighbours”. It also requires Hamas to “agree to not have any role in the governance of Gaza, directly, indirectly, or in any form”.

In exchange, aid will be allowed into Gaza, where famine has been declared for half a million people. An Israeli blockade has prevented adequate resources from reaching civilians, heightening the hunger crisis.

The plan also calls for Hamas to release Israeli captives and the bodies of those who died. Israel, in return, will release the 1,170 Palestinians from Gaza who were detained after the start of the war on October 7, 2023, plus 250 people sentenced to life imprisonment.

The plan also calls for the establishment of a “Board of Peace”, led by Trump himself and helmed by other heads of state, including former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, as a temporary governance structure.

A separate “International Stabilisation Force” would be put in place to bolster Palestinian police and work with Israeli and Egyptian border agents.

A ‘last chance’ for Hamas?

In Friday’s social media post, Trump repeatedly called the proposal Hamas’s “last chance” to come to the bargaining table. He also reiterated warnings that Hamas would face heavy losses should it fail to acquiesce.

“As retribution for the October 7th attack on civilization, more than 25,000 Hamas ‘soldiers’ have already been killed,” Trump wrote, citing unsubstantiated numbers. “Most of the rest are surrounded and MILITARILY TRAPPED, just waiting for me to give the word, ‘GO,’ for their lives to be quickly extinguished.”

“As for the rest, we know where and who you are, and you will be hunted down, and killed.”

In apparent anticipation of further violence, Trump’s message also included an appeal for civilians to relocate to safety, though it was unclear where he hoped they would move.

“I am asking that all innocent Palestinians immediately leave this area of potentially great future death for safer parts of Gaza,” Trump wrote. “Everyone will be well cared for by those that are waiting to help.”

The statement echoed remarks Trump had made earlier in the week, in his meeting with Netanyahu.

At their joint news conference, Trump made it plain that the US would support Israel in its attacks on Hamas, should the deal fail to be accepted.

“Israel would have my full backing to finish the job of destroying the threat of Hamas,” Trump told reporters.

Friday’s post, however, is not the first time Trump has set a deadline for the release of Israeli captives and the implementation of a ceasefire. In February, for instance, Trump warned he would “let hell break out” if the captives were not released.

Israel ultimately let the ceasefire negotiations expire a few weeks later, on March 1, and it soon thereafter resumed its bombing campaign in Gaza.

Criticisms of ceasefire proposal

This time around, however, Trump told reporters that Hamas had “three or four days” to agree to the newly unveiled plan, before setting a fixed deadline in Friday’s post.

Hamas had said on Thursday it was considering the proposal and would respond “soon”, but critics, including several government officials, have expressed scepticism about Trump’s demands and conditions.

Earlier this week, Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar told the news outlet Dawn that the published proposal had strayed from the original plan presented to Arab and Muslim leaders at the UN.

“Changes were made to our draft. I have the record,” Dar said.

Others have questioned the idea of appointing a “Board of Peace” as a transitional governance structure. It is unclear who, besides Trump and Blair, would be leading such a council and what its timeline and end goals would be.

The US has long been an ally of Israel, and it has supported Netanyahu’s campaign in Gaza with billions of dollars in military aid since the start of the offensive.

On Friday, ahead of Trump’s Truth Social post, a group of 28 UN experts — including Francesca Albanese, the special rapporteur for the Palestinian territory — raised some of those concerns.

“The US is a deeply partisan supporter of Israel and not an ‘honest broker’,” the experts said. “This proposal is regrettably reminiscent of colonial practices and must be rejected.”

They warned that the plan could potentially “replace Israeli occupation with a US-led occupation”, in violation of international law. Palestinian self-determination, their letter added, should not come “at the mercy of decisions by outsiders”.

“Imposing an immediate peace at any price, regardless of or brazenly against law and justice, is a recipe for further injustice, future violence and instability,” they said.

But in his social media post, Trump appeared to dig in his heels, pledging to hammer down a resolution to the nearly two-year-long conflict, which marks a grim anniversary in four days.

“We will have PEACE in the Middle East one way or the other,” he wrote, a sentiment he underscored twice.