Washington, D.C. — President Donald Trump said Friday that it will likely be clear within the next 24 hours whether Hamas will agree to what he has described as a “final proposal” for a ceasefire with Israel in Gaza.
Trump also revealed that he had spoken with Saudi officials about expanding the Abraham Accords — the normalization agreements brokered by his administration between Israel and several Gulf nations during his first term.
Earlier this week, Trump announced that Israel had accepted the terms of a 60-day ceasefire deal, which would be used as a framework to negotiate an end to the war. When asked Friday if Hamas had accepted the proposal, he replied, “We’ll see what happens, we are going to know over the next 24 hours.”
A source close to Hamas said Thursday that the group was still seeking guarantees that the U.S.-backed deal would lead to a permanent end to the war. Meanwhile, two Israeli officials confirmed that final details were still under negotiation.
The announcement came as Israeli airstrikes reportedly killed dozens of Palestinians in Gaza on Thursday, according to local health authorities.
Conflict Background and Ceasefire Efforts
The current war erupted in October 2023, after Hamas launched a surprise assault on Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking around 250 hostages, according to Israeli figures.
Israel’s retaliatory campaign has, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, killed over 56,000 Palestinians, displaced the entire population of Gaza, and triggered a worsening hunger crisis. The war has also sparked international legal battles, including genocide charges at the International Court of Justice and war crimes allegations at the International Criminal Court — accusations that Israel strongly denies.
A previous two-month ceasefire collapsed on March 18, when Israeli strikes reportedly killed over 400 Palestinians in a single day.
Earlier this year, Trump faced heavy criticism after suggesting that the U.S. should take control of Gaza after the war — a proposal widely condemned as a form of ethnic cleansing by human rights groups, the UN, and Palestinian officials.
Talks with Saudi Arabia and Iran’s Shadow
Trump also addressed U.S. media reports that he had recently met with Saudi Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman at the White House. He confirmed the meeting and said they discussed potential new signatories to the Abraham Accords.
“I think a lot of people are going to be joining the Abraham Accords,” Trump said, adding that recent U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran have created geopolitical pressures that could spur further cooperation among Gulf states and Israel.
Following the meeting with Trump, Axios reported that Prince Khalid spoke by phone with Iran’s top military official, General Abdolrahim Mousavi, highlighting the complex diplomacy at play.
Trump’s comments come just days before Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to visit Washington, as the U.S. continues to push for a diplomatic breakthrough to halt the devastating war.
