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THE United States has received “credible reports” that Hamas may carry out an attack on Palestinian civilians in Gaza, in what would amount to a severe breach of the ceasefire agreement brokered by President Donald Trump, the State Department said on Saturday.
AP reported today that, in a statement, the department warned that any such act “would constitute a direct and grave violation” of the truce that brought an end to the two-year conflict between Israel and Hamas.
No further details were provided regarding the nature or timing of the possible attack.
“Should Hamas proceed with this attack, measures will be taken to protect the people of Gaza and preserve the integrity of the ceasefire,” the statement added.
President Trump, whose administration brokered the peace deal, issued a characteristically blunt warning on social media: “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.”
However, Trump later clarified to reporters that the United States would not deploy its own forces in the event of further violence.
“It’s not going to be us,” he said. “We won’t have to. There are people very close, very nearby that will go in and they’ll do the trick very easily, but under our auspices.”
The remarks mark a sharp change in tone from the president, who had previously played down the significance of Hamas-linked killings in Gaza, describing the victims as “a couple of gangs that were very bad.”
The White House has not commented further on the intelligence behind the reported threat, but officials say regional partners are on alert and monitoring the situation closely. - October 19, 2025