Egypt and Qatar press Hamas to accept Gaza deal as time runs out

Egypt and Qatar are working to convince Hamas to accept Donald Trump's ultimatum to end the war in Gaza, Egypt's foreign minister has said, as Trump gave the group until tomorrow to respond.

- William Christou

Badr Abdelatty said the time had come for Hamas to disarm, and that Israel should be given no excuse to continue its offensive in Gaza, where it killed another 28 Palestinians yesterday.

Abdelatty said: "Let's not give any excuse for one party to use Hamas as a pretext for this mad daily killings of civilians. What's happening is far beyond the 7th of October," referring to the 2023 Hamas attack on Israel in which 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage. Speaking at the French Institute of International Relations in Paris, he said Egypt "is coordinating with our brothers in Qatar and with our colleagues in Turkey in order to convince Hamas to respond positively to this plan".

He added that while there were "a lot of holes" in the Trump proposal, there was full agreement that "Hamas has no role in the day after".

Trump has given Hamas until tomorrow night to reach an agreement on his plan to end the war in Gaza, threatening the group with "all hell" if it failed to do so.

The US president posted on his Truth Social platform yesterday: "An Agreement must be reached with Hamas by Sunday Evening at SIX (6) P.M., Washington, D.C. time. Every Country has signed on!. 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 group is split over how to respond, with an official telling Agence France-Presse that it needed more time to consider the deal, prior to Trump's announcement of a Sunday deadline.