US President Donald Trump has given Hamas until 18:00 Washington time (midnight Monday in Belgium) to accept his Gaza peace plan, or face "all hell".
In a statement on his Truth Social platform, Trump warned that failure to agree to the deal would unleash unprecedented consequences for Hamas.
"If this LAST CHANCE agreement is not reached, all HELL, like no one has ever seen before, will break out against Hamas. THERE WILL BE PEACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST ONE WAY OR THE OTHER," the president wrote in the Truth Social post.
This comes shortly after Hamas, a proscribed terror group in the EU, indicated it needed more time to review the US proposal.
The plan proposes an immediate end to fighting and the release within 72 hours of 20 living Israeli hostages held by Hamas - as well as the remains of hostages thought to be dead - in exchange for the release of 250 Palestinian prisoners serving life sentence plus 1700 Gazans who were detained after October 7th 2023.
Arab and Turkish mediators are understood to be pressing Hamas for a positive response to the proposal, but a senior Hamas figure has said the armed group is likely to reject it.
