[News] Trump threatens ‘to go in and kill’ Hamas in Gaza over internal clashes

[Anti-Imperialist News]

 News <https://www.aljazeera.com/news/>|Donald Trump
<https://www.aljazeera.com/tag/donald-trump/>
Trump threatens ‘to go in and kill’ Hamas in Gaza over internal clashes

*Statement appears to signal about-face from US president, who previously
backed Hamas’s crackdown on Gaza gangs.*
[image: President Donald Trump holds a signed document during a summit to
support ending the more than two-year Israel-Hamas war in Gaza after a
breakthrough ceasefire deal, Monday, Oct. 13, 2025, in Sharm El Sheikh,
Egypt. (Suzanne Plunkett/Pool via AP)]
US President Donald Trump holds a signed document on October 13 during a
summit in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, to support ending the war in Gaza [File:
Suzanne Plunkett/Pool via AP]

By Ali Harb <https://www.aljazeera.com/author/ali_harb_200919153312036>
Published On 16 Oct 2025

United States President Donald Trump has threatened to break the ceasefire
between Israel and Hamas if the Palestinian group continues to target gangs
and alleged Israeli collaborators in Gaza.

“If Hamas continues to kill people in Gaza, which was not the Deal, we will
have no choice but to go in and kill them,” Trump wrote in a social media
post on Thursday. “Thank you for your attention to this matter!”

The statement appears to signal an about-face from Trump, who earlier this
week expressed support for Hamas’s crackdown on gangs in the Palestinian
territory.

“They did take out a couple of gangs that were very bad, very, very bad
gangs,” Trump told reporters on Tuesday. “And they did take them out, and
they killed a number of gang members. And that didn’t bother me much, to be
honest with you. That’s OK.”

There have been deadly clashes reported between Hamas and armed clan
members in Gaza, who have been accused of looting humanitarian aid and
working for Israel.

After the fighting on Sunday, the Interior Ministry in Gaza issued general
amnesty for gang members who did not participate in the bloodshed.

In June, Israeli officials admitted to arming Gaza gangs, some of which
have ties to ISIL (ISIS), in an effort to destabilise Hamas.

On Sunday, gunmen from a Gaza gang linked to Israel killed prominent
Palestinian journalist Saleh Aljafarawi
<https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/10/12/palestinian-journalist-saleh-aljafarawi-shot-dead-in-gaza-city-clashes>,
according to local forces.


   - [image: Fresh bread returns to Gaza after months of aid blockade, but
   famine risk remains]
   Fresh bread returns to Gaza after months of aid blockade, but famine
   risk remains

Earlier this week, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas condemned
Hamas over accusations that the group executed suspected Israel
collaborators, calling the purported killings a “heinous crime”.

“What happened represents a crime, a flagrant violation of human rights,
and a serious assault on the principle of the rule of law,” Abbas’s office
said in a statement.

Under Trump’s ceasefire plan, Hamas would disarm and end any role in the
governance of Gaza. But it is not clear whether the group has agreed to
these conditions.

The truce has largely held since coming into effect on Saturday. But Israel
has repeatedly violated the agreement, killing Palestinians daily under the
justification that they approached areas under the control of the Israeli
military, which are not clearly marked.

Israeli has also threatened to once again restrict humanitarian aid to
Gaza, accusing Hamas of failing to return all the bodies of the captives it
held. And it has refused to open the Rafah crossing between the Palestinian
enclave and Egypt, to facilitate movement in and out of the territory.

Trump has hailed the ceasefire
<https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/10/13/five-key-takeaways-from-donald-trumps-gaza-remarks-in-middle-east>
as the dawn of “a new Middle East”, but his latest threat casts doubt on
the sustainability of the truce, amid continuing Israeli occupation and a
lack of clarity over the future governance of Gaza.
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