Whaddaya mean 'we,' kemo sabe? Actually, Donald Trump made that clear in his press avail yesterday. However, Trump wanted to make even more clear that the ceasefire in Gaza largely benefits members of Hamas, but only if they lay down their arms.
If not, Trump promised, 'we will eradicate them':
.@POTUS: "We have peace in the Middle East for the first time ever. We made a deal with Hamas that... They're gonna behave, they’re going to be nice, and if they’re not... we're going to eradicate them if we have to. They'll be eradicated — and they know that." pic.twitter.com/pqVYkbmSlH
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) October 20, 2025
US President Donald Trump said that Hamas's violation of the "ceasefire in Gaza would be taken care of quickly" in comments to the press on Monday.
"They’re going to be nice, and if they’re not... we're going to eradicate them if we have to," he said ahead of meetings with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. "They'll be eradicated — and they know that."
He added that at this time, he has not told Israel to resume strikes in Gaza and that the US was "taking lots of steps to maintain ceasefire."
It's not the first time that Trump has used the pronoun "we," and this time a reporter asked him directly what it meant. Trump explicitly excluded the possibility of US troops on the ground, and claimed that he has 59 other options:
REPORTER: You say 'WE' will eradicate Hamas. Is that American boots on the ground?
— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) October 20, 2025
PRESIDENT TRUMP: No. We have 59 countries. Countries called me when Hamas started killing saying, 'We'd love to go in and take care of it ourselves.' Israel would go in too within 2 minutes. I… pic.twitter.com/HTVtGYzn90
REPORTER: You say 'WE' will eradicate Hamas. Is that American boots on the ground?
PRESIDENT TRUMP: No. We have 59 countries. Countries called me when Hamas started killing saying, 'We'd love to go in and take care of it ourselves.' Israel would go in too within 2 minutes. I could tell them, 'Go in.' But we'll give it a chance right now...Hamas doesn't have Iran anymore. They have to be good. If not, they'll be eradicated.
So no American "boots on the ground," which Trump usually opposes except in situations that directly threaten American security. But that doesn't necessarily preclude American "boots" entirely, either. Trump could order naval forces to launch air attacks on Gaza from the Mediterranean. It's probably unlikely, since Israel could easily accomplish such missions, but Trump might decide to use a more direct method of getting his point across.
This still raises the question as to the proper addressees of said points. Observers warn that Trump's partners in Qatar may need some convincing, as their moves of late seem more intended in helping Hamas survive than forcing them to disarm. And it's not just Israel that's beginning to notice:
"Qatar is interested in leveraging its position of power in the first stage of Trump's plan, within which Hamas is the active factor, and naturally Doha has better positioning to deepen its influence in Gaza after the ceasefire," Admoni stated. "This move is received with grumbling by the Emirates and the Saudis, who know very well that deep Qatari involvement will result in Hamas remaining and relying on the supposedly civilian apparatus that Qatar provided."
According to Admoni, creating a "civilian" envelope of projects - hospitals, educational institutions, and infrastructure - gives Hamas an advantage in 'the day after' and establishes dependence on mechanisms supported by Doha.
The Qatari move is also causing dissatisfaction in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. Regional sources indicate that in Abu Dhabi and Riyadh, they identify in the Qatari establishment in Gaza a circumvention of the oversight mechanisms that were created through regional coordination, and that it could make it harder to restrain Hamas within the framework of future arrangements.
According to involved regional sources, Abu Dhabi and Riyadh have conveyed messages to the Trump administration that deeper Qatari involvement will lead to Hamas's consolidation and the failure of Trump's plan. Against this backdrop, a quiet diplomatic struggle is expected over the division of roles in rehabilitating the Strip and over the funding channels that will determine the balance of influence within it.
The effort to rehab Hamas in defiance of Trump's plan is gaining momentum in Cairo, too:
The first source told AFP that Hamas’s delegation in Cairo was also set to meet Egyptian officials to discuss an upcoming intra-Palestinian dialogue hosted by Egypt and aiming “to unify the Palestinian factions.”
“The dialogue aims to unify the Palestinian factions and discuss key issues, including the future of the Gaza Strip and the formation of the independent committee of experts that will assume management of the Strip,” the source said. ...
Gaza’s prospective transitional administration would be affiliated with neither Hamas nor the PA, according to the US ceasefire plan. The administration would hand over the reins of Gaza to the PA only once the unpopular body, which Israel accuses of incitement to terrorism in its school system and through payments to terrorists, undergoes significant reforms, according to the plan.
With partners like these, who needs enemies?
It appears that Hamas' interlocutors may also be resisting the new reality of American policy in the region. They want a return to the status quo ante rather than do the heavy lifting of excising Hamas and Iran from Gaza, and to a lesser extent the West Bank. Donald Trump is making himself as plain as he can that he intends to either see Hamas disarmed entirely or eradicated. There is no going back to the status quo ante at this point, and he's fine with dumping the ceasefire agreement to get to an actual peace in the region.
If these nations want to be part of the we of Trump's vision, they have some hard choices to make. Soon.
Speaking of hard choices, this first popped up a couple of weeks ago, but it's still worth highlighting today. There is no political movement less informed than Queers for Palestine, whose activists clearly have no clue what happens to those of heterodox sexuality under Islamic regimes, and especially in Gaza and any place in which Iranian proxies control ground. The reactions in this video are priceless:
Queers for Palestine can’t claim to stand for LGBTQ+ rights while glorifying regimes that imprison, torture, and execute LGBTQ+ people.
— Yossi BenYakar (@YossiBenYakar) October 9, 2025
In Gaza, Iran, and across much of the Muslim world, being openly gay is a death sentence.
Marching for Hamas while waving rainbow flags isn’t… pic.twitter.com/Q0sjDl9IwD
"A lot more than you think" is maybe the most unintentionally ironic moment of the month. These people aren't just uninformed or uneducated -- they are willfully obtuse. And these are the street forces of the radical-Left Queer Movement, who have decided to demonize tolerant societies while advocating for regimes that would slaughter every last one of them. You have to try really hard to be so committed to suicidal policies.
Editor's Note: Donald Trump is America's Peace Time President. Support and follow our latest reporting on the president's historic trip to the Middle East.
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