Trump Says He Expects Hamas Decision in 24 Hours on 'Final' Peace Proposal

Children check the destruction at Mustafa Hafez school, sheltering Palestinians displaced by the war, after the school was hit during an overnight Israeli strike in Gaza City, on July 3, 2025, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas group. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
Children check the destruction at Mustafa Hafez school, sheltering Palestinians displaced by the war, after the school was hit during an overnight Israeli strike in Gaza City, on July 3, 2025, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas group. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
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Trump Says He Expects Hamas Decision in 24 Hours on 'Final' Peace Proposal

Children check the destruction at Mustafa Hafez school, sheltering Palestinians displaced by the war, after the school was hit during an overnight Israeli strike in Gaza City, on July 3, 2025, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas group. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
Children check the destruction at Mustafa Hafez school, sheltering Palestinians displaced by the war, after the school was hit during an overnight Israeli strike in Gaza City, on July 3, 2025, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas group. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)

US President Donald Trump said on Friday it would probably be known in 24 hours whether the Palestinian group Hamas has agreed to accept what he has called a "final proposal" for an Israel-Hamas ceasefire in Gaza.

Trump said on Tuesday Israel had accepted the conditions needed to finalize a 60-day ceasefire with Hamas, during which the parties will work to end the war.

He was asked on Friday if Hamas had agreed to the latest ceasefire deal framework, and said: "We'll see what happens, we are going to know over the next 24 hours."

A source close to Hamas said on Thursday the group sought guarantees that the new US-backed ceasefire proposal would lead to the end of Israel's war in Gaza.

Two Israeli officials said those details were still being worked out. Dozens of Palestinians were killed on Thursday in Israeli strikes, according to Gaza authorities.

The latest bloodshed in the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict was triggered in October 2023 when Hamas attacked Israel, killing 1,200 and taking about 250 hostages, Israeli tallies show.

Gaza's health ministry says Israel's subsequent military assault has killed over 56,000 Palestinians. It has also caused a hunger crisis, internally displaced Gaza's entire population and prompted accusations of genocide at the International Court of Justice and of war crimes at the International Criminal Court. Israel denies the accusations.

A previous two month ceasefire ended when Israeli strikes killed more than 400 Palestinians on March 18. Trump earlier this year proposed a US takeover of Gaza, which was condemned globally by rights experts, the UN and Palestinians as a proposal of "ethnic cleansing."



Syrian Presidency Pledges Specialized Force to Halt Clashes in Sweida

Smoke rises as a damaged car remains along a street, as Sweida province has been engulfed by nearly a week of violence, at Sweida governorate, Syria, July 18, 2025. REUTERS/Karam al-Masri
Smoke rises as a damaged car remains along a street, as Sweida province has been engulfed by nearly a week of violence, at Sweida governorate, Syria, July 18, 2025. REUTERS/Karam al-Masri
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Syrian Presidency Pledges Specialized Force to Halt Clashes in Sweida

Smoke rises as a damaged car remains along a street, as Sweida province has been engulfed by nearly a week of violence, at Sweida governorate, Syria, July 18, 2025. REUTERS/Karam al-Masri
Smoke rises as a damaged car remains along a street, as Sweida province has been engulfed by nearly a week of violence, at Sweida governorate, Syria, July 18, 2025. REUTERS/Karam al-Masri

Syria's presidency on Friday pledged to send forces to halt the clashes between Bedouin tribal factions and Druze fighters in Sweida, in the south of the country, and urged "restraint.”

In a statement, the presidency urged "all parties to exercise restraint and prioritize reason,” adding: "The relevant authorities are working on dispatching a specialized force to break up the clashes and resolve the conflict on the ground."

Damascus earlier this week dispatched government troops to quell the fighting, but they were hit by Israeli strikes before withdrawing under a truce agreed on Wednesday.

Israel had repeatedly said it would not allow Syrian troops to deploy to the country's south, but on Friday it said it would grant them a brief window to end renewed clashes there.

The Syrian Network for Human Rights said it had documented 321 deaths in fighting since Sunday, among them medical personnel, women and children.

Syria's minister for emergencies said more than 500 wounded had been treated and hundreds of families had been evacuated out of the city.