Washington, DC (BN24) – U.S. President Donald Trump said Friday he expects to know within the next 24 hours whether Hamas will agree to what he described as a “final proposal” for a ceasefire in Gaza aimed at ending nearly nine months of devastating war.
Speaking to reporters before departing Washington, Trump reiterated that Israel has already accepted the terms of a framework agreement establishing a 60-day truce with Hamas during which negotiations could continue toward a lasting peace deal.
“We’ll see what happens,” Trump said when asked whether Hamas had signed off. “We are going to know over the next 24 hours.”
A Hamas official told Reuters on Thursday that the group is demanding guarantees that the U.S.-brokered ceasefire proposal will ultimately bring a formal end to Israel’s offensive in Gaza. Two Israeli officials confirmed that details of the guarantees were still under discussion.
The latest push for a truce follows yet another deadly escalation. Gaza health authorities said dozens of Palestinians were killed Thursday in Israeli airstrikes across the enclave.
The war began in October 2023, when Hamas-led fighters attacked southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and abducting about 250 hostages, according to Israeli figures. Israel’s military campaign in response has killed more than 56,000 Palestinians, Gaza’s Health Ministry says, and has displaced the entire population. Humanitarian agencies report acute hunger, and legal challenges accusing Israel of genocide and war crimes are pending before the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court. Israel has denied all allegations.
A previous ceasefire lasting two months collapsed in March after Israeli strikes killed more than 400 Palestinians in a single day. Earlier this year, Trump floated a controversial plan for a U.S. takeover of Gaza, which was condemned by Palestinian leaders, U.N. officials, and human rights experts as tantamount to “ethnic cleansing.”
In his remarks Friday, Trump also confirmed he had recently discussed expanding the Abraham Accords with Saudi Arabia, following U.S. media reports that he met Saudi Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman at the White House on Thursday.
“It’s one of the things we talked about,” Trump said. “I think a lot of people are going to be joining the Abraham Accords,” he added, citing Iran’s recent setbacks from Israeli and American military operations.
According to Axios, the Saudi official later held a phone call with Iran’s military chief, Abdolrahim Mousavi. The diplomatic contacts came ahead of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s scheduled visit to Washington next week.
