US President Donald Trump threatened action against Hamas on Thursday over public executions carried out by the terror group after Israel withdrew from parts of the Gaza Strip under a US-backed ceasefire deal, the Times of Israel reported.
"If Hamas continues to kill people in Gaza, which was not the deal, we will have no choice but to go in and kill them," he warned in a statement on Truth Social.
The post appears to mark a reversal from his initial stance two days earlier on the executions of Palestinians by rival gangs and Gazans, whom Hamas accuses of collaborating with Israel. gangs and Gazans, whom Hamas accuses of collaborating with Israel.
This also came after an Israeli-backed militia in southern Gaza appealed to the international community in a video obtained by The Times of Israel, calling on the US president to protect the residents of the Strip from Hamas.
On Tuesday, Trump said he had given Hamas "approval for a certain period of time" to carry out the killings, claiming that the terrorist organization was targeting some "very bad gangs".
On Wednesday, however, the commander of US forces in the Middle East called on Hamas to immediately stop attacks on "innocent Palestinian civilians" and to begin "disarmament without delay".
Hours later, Trump told CNN that he was doing "more research on this... It could be gangs".
Although Trump began his statement with "we" when talking about who would carry out his threat against Hamas, he has previously clarified that he was referring to Israel in terms of such retaliation and that American troops would not be needed in Gaza, a point the US president reiterated later on Thursday.
"Someone will go" into Gaza, he said in response to a reporter's question, but "it won't be us".
"We won't have to go" into the Strip, Trump continued. "There are people right there who will come in, do the job very easily, but under our auspices."
The White House's reluctance to deploy U.S. troops on the ground has also led to skepticism about the nascent International Security Force in Gaza, a proposed multinational force designed to provide security in the enclave during its reconstruction.
A European diplomat told the Times of Israel on Thursday that the vaguely defined U.S. role in the plan had deterred other countries, especially Arab ones, from committing to the effort, but said there should be clarity "in the coming days."
"There are other countries that have said they would be interested in participating, but first we will ask for a guarantee that the United States is also participating in the force itself," the diplomat said, noting that the mandate of the force also remains unclear.
"Whether this will be a security in order? Will it be more of a mission to train Palestinian forces? And if so, where and how many? Many things remain unclear for now."