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Trump Says Hamas Will Be 'Eradicated' If They Breach Gaza Deal

The war in Gaza has devastated much of the territory. Eyad BABA / AFP
The war in Gaza has devastated much of the territory. Eyad BABA / AFP
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Trump Says Hamas Will Be 'Eradicated' If They Breach Gaza Deal

The war in Gaza has devastated much of the territory. Eyad BABA / AFP
The war in Gaza has devastated much of the territory. Eyad BABA / AFP

US President Donald Trump said Monday that he would give Hamas a "little chance" to honor the Gaza truce deal with Israel but warned the group would be "eradicated" if it fails to do so.  

"We made a deal with Hamas that they're going to be very good, they're going to behave," Trump told reporters. "And if they're not, we're going to go and we're going to eradicate them. If we have to, they'll be eradicated." 

US envoys met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday aiming to corral Israel and Hamas to get the Gaza ceasefire plan back on track after an explosion of violence over the weekend that threatened to derail the week-old truce. 

Israel and Hamas have both recommitted to the ceasefire plan pushed by Trump since Sunday's flare-up in which a Palestinian attack that killed two soldiers prompted an Israeli bombardment killing at least 28 people in Gaza. 

However, with even the first stages of the truce shaken by repeated flashes of violence, including on Monday, it is far from clear whether the US will be able to keep pressure on the two sides and maintain momentum to end the conflict. 

TALKS ON NEXT PHASE OF CEASEFIRE PLAN 

The US envoys, Steve Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, were expected to push to shore up the truce and then start talks on the next, more difficult, phase of the 20-step plan during their visit. 

US Vice President JD Vance was also due to visit Israel on Tuesday, with Netanyahu saying the pair would discuss regional challenges and opportunities. 

High-level US diplomacy in the region, with talks also due later on Monday with Hamas in Egypt, underscores the importance of cementing the ceasefire to Trump, who last week proclaimed "the historic dawn of a new Middle East". 

On Monday, Palestinian medics said three more people had been killed by Israeli tank fire near the "yellow line" demarcating Israel's military pullback inside Gaza from the main populated areas. The Israeli military said forces had fired at fighters who crossed that line. 

Gaza City residents said they were confused about the line, with electronic maps available but physical markings not established yet on most of the route. 

"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. 

Israel's defense minister on Monday published video showing bulldozers towing yellow blocks into place to mark out the line. 

HAMAS TO HAND OVER BODY OF ANOTHER HOSTAGE 

Witkoff and Kushner's visit to Israel, aimed at discussions on the next phase of Trump's complex ceasefire plan, was scheduled before Sunday's flare-up in violence, according to US and Israeli sources. 

Israel is unlikely to publicize any progress in the talks until the remains of more hostages are returned, and it believes Hamas could hand over up to six more bodies immediately out of the 16 still in Gaza. Other bodies may be hard to recover because of destruction in the enclave. 

Hamas said it would hand over the body of another hostage later on Monday. 

Egypt will host talks in Cairo on Monday with Khalil Al-Hayya, Hamas' exiled Gaza chief, over ways to follow up on implementing the ceasefire, the group said in a statement. 

A Palestinian official close to the talks said the group's delegation would discuss ways to push forward the formation of a technocratic body to run Gaza without Hamas representation. 

Hamas and other allied factions reject any foreign administration of Gaza, as envisaged in the Trump plan and has so far resisted calls to lay down arms, which may complicate implementation of the deal. 

RESIDENTS FEAR MORE OUTBREAKS OF VIOLENCE 

Both Israel and Hamas have said they remain committed to the ceasefire after Sunday's violence. 

Israel said it launched strikes across the enclave in response to a Palestinian attack that killed two soldiers operating within the agreed deployment line in Rafah in southern Gaza. 

"Israel will not accept any violations of the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip," an Israeli government spokesman said on Monday, repeating that Hamas could have no future role inside Gaza and would be disarmed. 

Hamas' armed wing, which has refused to commit to disarmament under the plan, said it was unaware of clashes in Rafah and had not been in contact with groups there since March. 

Hamas has detailed what it calls a series of violations by Israel that it says killed 46 people and stopped essential supplies from reaching the enclave. 

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said any Hamas fighters in areas of Gaza still under Israeli control must leave immediately and anyone remaining beyond the yellow line would be targeted without warning. 

Despite an earlier threat to withhold supplies from Gaza over the brief truce breakdown, an Israeli security official said aid convoys would continue to enter the enclave. 

With the truce still uncertain, Gaza residents fear more violence. 

"I felt my heart dropping to the ground, I felt the ceasefire collapsed," said Abu Abdallah, a Gaza City businessman displaced in the central Gaza Strip. 

"What happened yesterday made people go crazy to buy food, greedy merchants hiked the prices. The deal looks so fragile," he told Reuters via a chat app. 

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Arab World

US Says Gaza ‘Phase Two’ Beginning with Goal of Hamas Demilitarization

A tent camp for displaced Palestinians stretches across the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP)
A tent camp for displaced Palestinians stretches across the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP)
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US Says Gaza ‘Phase Two’ Beginning with Goal of Hamas Demilitarization

A tent camp for displaced Palestinians stretches across the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP)
A tent camp for displaced Palestinians stretches across the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP)

President Donald Trump's envoy said Wednesday that a plan to end the Gaza war was now moving to Phase Two with a goal of disarming Hamas, despite a number of Israeli strikes during the ceasefire.

"We are announcing the launch of Phase Two of the President's 20-Point Plan to End the Gaza Conflict, moving from ceasefire to demilitarization, technocratic governance, and reconstruction," envoy Steve Witkoff wrote on X.

The second phase will also include the setup of a 15-person Palestinian technocratic committee to administer post-war Gaza. Its formation was announced earlier Wednesday by Egypt, a mediator.

Phase Two "begins the full demilitarization and reconstruction of Gaza, primarily the disarmament of all unauthorized personnel."

"The US expects Hamas to comply fully with its obligations, including the immediate return of the final deceased hostage. Failure to do so will bring serious consequences," he said.

Arab World

Lebanon Arrests Syrian Citizen Suspected of Funding Pro-Assad Fighters

A damaged portrait of Syria's ousted President Bashar al-Assad lies on the ground in the western Syrian port city of Latakia on Dec. 15, 2024. (AFP via Getty Images)
A damaged portrait of Syria's ousted President Bashar al-Assad lies on the ground in the western Syrian port city of Latakia on Dec. 15, 2024. (AFP via Getty Images)
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Lebanon Arrests Syrian Citizen Suspected of Funding Pro-Assad Fighters

A damaged portrait of Syria's ousted President Bashar al-Assad lies on the ground in the western Syrian port city of Latakia on Dec. 15, 2024. (AFP via Getty Images)
A damaged portrait of Syria's ousted President Bashar al-Assad lies on the ground in the western Syrian port city of Latakia on Dec. 15, 2024. (AFP via Getty Images)

Lebanese authorities have arrested a Syrian citizen who is suspected of sending money to fighters loyal to former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Syria, judicial officials said Wednesday.

Ahmad Dunia was detained in recent days in Lebanon’s region of Jbeil north of Beirut and is being questioned over alleged links to Assad’s maternal cousin Rami Makhlouf as well as a former Syrian army general who left the country after Assad’s fall in December 2024, the officials said.

The officials described Dunia as the “financial arm” of the wealthy Makhlouf, saying he had been sending money to former Assad supporters in Syria who work under the command of ousted Syrian general Suheil al-Hassan who is believed to be in Russia.

The officials said the money was mostly sent to pro-Assad fighters who are active in Syria’s coastal region, where many members of his Alawite minority sect live.

Allegations that Dunia was financing Assad allies was first reported by Qatar’s Al Jazeera TV. He was then arrested by Lebanese security forces, according to officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

The arrest came a week after a Syrian security delegation visited Beirut and handed over to officials in Lebanon lists of dozens of names of former members of Assad’s security agencies whom they said are directing anti-government operations in Syria from Lebanon. Dunia’s name was one of those on the list, the officials said.

Since Assad’s fall, there have been several skirmishes between his supporters and the country’s new authorities.

In March last year, violence that began with clashes between armed groups aligned with Assad and the new government’s security forces spiraled into sectarian revenge attacks and massacres that killed hundreds of civilians from the Alawite minority.

Arab World

Sudan Peace Talks Resume in Cairo as War Nears 3-Year Mark

Displaced women fill water at displaced persons camp in El Obeid, North Kordofan State, Sudan, January 12, 2026. (Reuters)
Displaced women fill water at displaced persons camp in El Obeid, North Kordofan State, Sudan, January 12, 2026. (Reuters)
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Sudan Peace Talks Resume in Cairo as War Nears 3-Year Mark

Displaced women fill water at displaced persons camp in El Obeid, North Kordofan State, Sudan, January 12, 2026. (Reuters)
Displaced women fill water at displaced persons camp in El Obeid, North Kordofan State, Sudan, January 12, 2026. (Reuters)

Sudan peace efforts resumed in Cairo on Wednesday as Egypt, the United Nations and the United States called for the warring parties to agree to a nationwide humanitarian truce, as the war between the army and its rival paramilitary nears the three-year mark.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty told reporters that Egypt wouldn't accept the collapse of Sudan or its institutions, or any attempt to undermine its unity or divide its territory, describing such scenarios as “red lines.”

Abdelatty said during a joint news conference with Ramtane Lamamra, the UN secretary‑general’s personal envoy for Sudan, that Egypt won't stand idly and won't hesitate to take the necessary measures to help preserve Sudan’s unity.

″There is absolutely no room for recognizing parallel entities or any militias. Under no circumstances can we equate Sudanese state institutions, including the Sudanese army, with any other militias,” he said on the sidelines of the fifth meeting of the Consultative Mechanism to Enhance and Coordinate Peace Efforts.

Lamamra said that the fifth such meeting demonstrated that diplomacy remains a viable path toward peace.

The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, or RSF, and the military have been at war since April 2023. The conflict that has seen multiple atrocities and pushed Sudan into one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.

Although repeated attempts at peace talks have failed to end the war, Abdelatty said that there's a regional agreement to secure an immediate humanitarian truce, including certain withdrawals and the establishment of safe humanitarian corridors.

Humanitarian aid Massad Boulos, the US senior adviser for Arab and African Affairs, said Wednesday that more than 1.3 metric tons of humanitarian supplies entered el-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, on Wednesday, with the help of American-led negotiations, marking the first such delivery since the city was besieged 18 months ago.

“As we press the warring parties for a nationwide humanitarian truce, we will continue to support mechanisms to facilitate the unhindered delivery of assistance to areas suffering from famine, malnutrition, and conflict-driven displacement,” Boulos posted on X.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi discussed with Boulos the need to increase coordination between both countries to achieve stability in Sudan, with Sisi expressing appreciation to US President Donald Trump’s efforts to end the war.

US and key mediators Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, known as the Quad, proposed a humanitarian truce, which both sides reportedly agreed to, but the conflict has persisted.

“The President emphasized that Egypt will not allow such actions, given the deep connection between the national security of both brotherly countries,” the Egyptian president’s office said in a statement.

The United States has accused the RSF of committing genocide in Darfur during the war, and rights groups said that the paramilitary group committed war crimes during the siege and takeover of el-Fasher, as well as in the capture of other cities in Darfur. The military has also been accused of human rights violations.

Latest wave of violence

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, OCHA, said on Tuesday that at least 19 civilians were killed during ground operations in Jarjira in North Darfur on Monday.

A military-allied Darfur rebel group said that it carried out a joint military operation with the army in Jarjira, saying that the operation liberated the area and its surroundings and forced RSF fighters to flee south.

At least 10 others were killed and nine others injured, also on Monday, in a drone attack that hit Sinja, the capital city of Sennar province, according to OCHA and the Sudan Doctors Network.

Sudan Doctors Network said in a statement that the drone strike was launched by the RSF and hit several areas in the city, describing the attack as the latest crime added “to the long list of grave violations against civilians.”

The group said that civilians are being deliberately targeted in a “full-fledged war crime.”

The Sudan Doctors Network also said that it “holds the Rapid Support Forces fully responsible for this crime and demands an end to their targeting of civilians and the protection of civilian infrastructure.”

Recent violence displaced more than 8,000 people from villages in North Darfur, with some fleeing to safer areas within the province and others crossing into Chad, according to the latest estimate by the International Organization for Migration.