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US President Donald Trump claimed that several of America’s “NOW GREAT ALLIES” in the Middle East and surrounding regions have told him they would be willing, at his request, to enter Gaza with “a heavy force” and “straighten our Hamas” if the group continues to act in violation of its agreement with the US. The Republican earlier in the day threatened to “eradicate” Hamas if it breached its ceasefire deal with Israel as his deputy, Vice President JD Vance, landed in Israel. In a post on Truth Social, Trump wrote: “Numerous of our NOW GREAT ALLIES in the Middle East, and areas surrounding the Middle East, have explicitly and strongly, with great enthusiasm, informed me that they would welcome the opportunity, at my request, to go into GAZA with a heavy force and ‘straighten our Hamas’ if Hamas continues to act badly, in violation of their agreement with us. The love and spirit for the Middle East has not been seen like this in a thousand years! It is a beautiful thing to behold!” Trump added that he has so far told these countries, and Israel, “NOT YET!” He said there was still hope that Hamas would “do what is right,” but warned that if the group fails to comply, “an end to Hamas will be FAST, FURIOUS, & BRUTAL!” Hamas has been accused of shooting so-called collaborators and allegedly carried out executions out in the open. Israeli soldiers told Haaretz that they could not stop Hamas since they had no jurisdiction following the ceasefire. Meanwhile, Israeli forces dropped 153 tonnes (337,307 pounds) of bombs on targets in Gaza in response to what it said was a ceasefire breach by the Palestinian group Hamas. Israel also said it had launched a wave of air strikes against targets in Gaza after two of its soldiers were killed in an attack by Hamas. The Palestinian group denied any knowledge of the attack. Both Israel and Hamas have said they are committed to the US-backed truce despite the weekend’s violence, and Israel confirmed that Hamas handed over the body of a hostage on Monday, taking the total to 13 of the 28 it had pledged to return. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said in a statement that Hamas had to make good on its commitment to return the remains of all the hostages in order to implement the ceasefire agreement. “We will not compromise on this and will spare no effort until we return all of the deceased hostages, every last one of them,” the statement said. Hamas has said it needs more time and technical assistance to complete the recovery of the bodies. Praise For Indonesia Trump also expressed gratitude, singling out Indonesia and its “wonderful leader” for their support, writing: “I would like to thank all of those countries that called to help. Also, I would like to thank the great and powerful country of Indonesia, and its wonderful leader, for all of the help they have shown and given to the Middle East, and to the U.S.A. TO EVERYONE, thank you for your attention to this matter!” Shortly after his Gaza-focused summit remarks in Sharm el-Sheikh earlier this month, audio picked up Prabowo asking Trump if he could meet with his son Eric, an executive vice president at the Trump Organization. Both appeared unaware of the live microphone. Trump replied, “I’ll have Eric call. Should I do that? He’s such a good boy. I’ll have Eric call.” It was unclear whether the conversation involved the Trump Organization or any business dealings.
