PRESIDENT Trump has said that he will rip up the Israel – Hamas ceasefire agreement if all hostages aren’t released by midday Saturday.
In comments to reporters after signing a series of executive orders, Mr Trump said “If they’re not here, all hell is going to break out”, and said he feared many scheduled for release are actually already dead.
He also acknowledged that such a decision would be up to Israel.
Trump also said, however: “I’m speaking for myself. Israel can override it.”
His comments came after he said in an interview with Fox News Channel that Palestinians in Gaza would not have a right to return under his plan for US “ownership” of the war-torn territory.
This contradicted other officials in his administration who have sought to say he was only calling for the temporary relocation of its population.
Less than a week after he floated his plan for the US to take control of Gaza and turn it into “the Riviera of the Middle East”, Mr Trump, in an interview with Fox News’ Bret Baier on Monday, said “No, they wouldn’t” when asked if Palestinians in Gaza would have a right to return to the territory.
He has ramped up pressure on Arab states, especially US allies Jordan and Egypt, to take in Palestinians from Gaza, who claim the territory as part of a future homeland.
“In the meantime, I would own this. Think of it as a real estate development for the future. It would be a beautiful piece of land. No big money spent.”
Arab nations have sharply criticised the Trump proposal, and Trump will host Jordan’s King Abdullah II at the White House on Tuesday.
Egypt and Jordan have privately raised security concerns about welcoming large numbers of additional refugees into their countries even temporarily.
Trump’s comments risked jeopardising the already tenuous ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza after 15 months of war, with the existing framework for negotiations calling for the massive humanitarian and reconstruction assistance for civilians in Gaza.
After Trump’s initial comments last week, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt and secretary of state Marco Rubio backtracked on the claims, saying the president only wanted Palestinians relocated from Gaza “temporarily” and for an “interim” period to allow for debris removal, the disposal of unexploded ordnance and reconstruction.
The President last week did not rule out deploying US troops to help secure the territory but at the same time said no US funds would go to pay for the reconstruction of Gaza, raising fundamental questions about the nature of his plan.
Egypt on Monday reiterated its rejection to the transfer of Palestinians from their territories in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, warning that such proposals threaten “the foundations of people” in the Middle East.
In a statement, the Egyptian foreign ministry said the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem its capital is the base for “comprehensive and just peace” in the region.
The statement said Egypt rejects any violations to the Palestinians’ “right of self-determination and independence” and “upholds the right of return for Palestinian refugees who were forced to leave their homeland”, in a reference to hundreds of thousands who were forced to flee their homes in what is now Israel during the 1948 war.
A senior Hamas official described Mr Trump’s latest remarks about the US ownership of Gaza as “absurd”.
Izzat al-Rishq, a member of Hamas’ politico bureau, said the comments “reflect a deep ignorance of Palestine and the region”.
In comments released by Hamas early Monday, he said Trump’s approach toward the Palestinian cause will fail.
“Dealing with the Palestinian cause with the mentality of a real estate dealer is a recipe for failure,” he said. “Our Palestinian people will thwart all transfer and deportation plans.”
