Monday, September 8, 2025, 4:33 a.m.
With a “final warning” from US President Donald Trump to the Islamist terrorist organization Hamas, Washington wants to force a diplomatic solution shortly before Israel’s impending major offensive in the city of Gaza. Israel has accepted his conditions and it is time for Hamas to accept them too, Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. “This is my last warning, there will be no more!” Shortly afterwards, Hamas expressed its readiness for “immediate negotiations”. It welcomed “any step that will help end the aggression against our people”.
Trump had already issued an ultimatum to Hamas in March. It must immediately hand over all Israeli hostages and all bodies of kidnapped people “or it’s over for you”, he wrote on Truth Social at the time. Trump did not provide any details on the conditions of the new proposal on Sunday. According to the Israeli broadcaster Channel 12, the proposal provides for the handover of all 48 hostages – both alive and dead – on the first day a ceasefire comes into force. In return, Israel’s army will cease its offensive in the city of Gaza.
Palestinians seek shelter during an Israeli airstrike on a high-rise building in Gaza City on Friday.
Image:
Keystone/AP Photo/Yousef Al Zanoun
Israel is also set to release thousands of Palestinian prisoners from its jails, including hundreds sentenced to life imprisonment for killing Israelis. This was also reported by the US news portal “Axios”. According to the report, negotiations on the conditions for an end to the war – including Israel’s demand for Hamas to disarm and Hamas’ demand for a complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip – are to begin immediately after the call to arms is issued, Axios reported, citing Israeli officials.
According to the proposal, US President Trump would “actively” campaign for an end to the war. Channel 12 also reported that the fighting would not resume as long as negotiations on the conditions were ongoing. There was initially no official Israeli confirmation of Trump’s statement that Israel had accepted his conditions. However, the Times of Israel claims to have heard from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s entourage that the proposal is being “very seriously considered”, as was reported on Sunday evening.