Trump threatens ‘to eradicate Hamas’

Oct 21, 2025 News

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…as Israel kills 57 Palestinians in 24 hours

(AL-JAZEERA) – US President Donald Trump said he would give Hamas a “little chance” to honour the Gaza truce deal with Israel, but warned the Palestinian group would be “eradicated” if it fails to do so.

Hamas are going to be “very good, they’re going to behave, they’re going to be nice – and if they’re not, we’re going to go in and eradicate them if we have to. They will be eradicated, and they know that,” Trump said at a news conference at the White House alongside Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

Trump said any operations against Hamas in Gaza would not directly involve US troops but that “Israel would go [back] in in two minutes if I asked them to … but we’re going to give it a little chance.”

Gaza’s health ministry said the bodies of 57 people were brought to hospitals across the coastal enclave in the last 24 hours.

It’s been another deadly day in Gaza with Palestinians approaching the so-called “yellow line” ceasefire demarcation gunned down by Israeli troops.

Gaza City residents reported confusion over the line’s location because of a lack of a visible boundary.

“The whole area is in ruins. We saw the maps, but we can’t tell where those lines are,” said Samir, 50, who lives in Tuffah in the city’s east, where the shootings took place.

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said anyone remaining beyond the yellow line would be targeted without warning.

The “agreed-upon line” refers to a vague map shared by US President Donald Trump on October 4, showing an initial Israeli withdrawal zone marked in yellow, later dubbed the “yellow line” by Trump officials.

The yellow line is the boundary behind which Israeli troops pulled back and remain stationed under the ceasefire agreement with Hamas.

Mahmoud Basal, spokesman for Gaza’s Civil Defence rescue service, said four people were killed earlier in two separate attacks, both times “by Israeli gunfire as they were returning to check on their homes” in eastern Gaza City.

Israel’s military said it opened fire at Palestinian fighters who allegedly crossed the yellow line and approached troops in the Shujayea neighbourhood.

Hamas denied knowledge of any such attack, with one official accusing Israel of fabricating “pretexts” to resume the war on Gaza.

Israel violated ceasefire 80 times: Gaza authorities

The Gaza Government Media Office said Israeli attacks have killed at least 97 Palestinians since the ceasefire came into effect on October 10.

The office said in a statement that it documented 80 breaches of the ceasefire, which it said constitute a blatant violation of international humanitarian law.

“These violations ranged from direct fire against civilians to deliberate shelling and targeting, the use of simultaneous air strikes, and the arrest of a number of civilians,” the statement read.

“These practices reflect the occupation’s continued aggressive approach, its clear desire for escalation on the ground, and its constant thirst for blood and killing.”

US leaders in Israel to get next phase of Gaza truce ‘in motion’

Vice President JD Vance is on his way to Israel after senior US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner met with Israel’s leader today.

The Americans are having these high-level conversations in Israel this week to move forward with the Gaza ceasefire deal and to talk about what’s next.

The Israelis have said that until the remaining bodies, now 15, of hostages are brought back from Gaza, that’s when they’re going to be willing to talk about what’s next for the Palestinian territory.

But the Americans are saying that’s not going to be the case, because they knew it was going to be a difficult task to locate the bodies in the ruins of the bomb-blasted enclave after two years of war.

And there is a plan here with a lot of guarantors, a lot of people who are involved in terms of different countries and different allies that want to get this in motion.

Meanwhile, Hamas has called on the international community to demand that Israel to carry through with its ceasefire commitments in Gaza.

The Palestinian group also said it’s working to complete the handover of Israeli captives’ remains despite “major challenges because of the extensive destruction” of Gaza. Hamas has already released 20 living Israeli abductees and the remains of 13 others.

Hamas “abides by all details of the ceasefire in Gaza, especially in the first phase by handing over all living captives at once”, spokesman Hazem Qassem said in a statement on the group’s Telegram channel.

“One of the main obstacles we face in delivering the remains is the absence of heavy machinery needed to remove the rubble. We have made this clear to the mediators,” said Qassem.

“All parties that want calm in the region must pressure the [Israeli] occupation to ensure it fulfills its commitments.”

Israel “has not abandoned its policy of starvation against our Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip”, he added.

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• eradicate, Hamas, Israel, Palestinians, Trump

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