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Hamas is going back to using schools, hospitals and civilian infrastructures as hideouts during the cease-fire calm, the Palestinian Authority said — as President Trump warned Tuesday that the US’s Mideast allies are prepared to send in troops to “straighten” out the terrorists.
Hamas has already managed to take over civilian shelters as part of its crackdown on dissent and as a tool to monitor the flow of humanitarian aid entering Gaza, politician Ramzi Awda claimed in the PA’s official daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida.
“Hamas’s internal security forces have begun summoning opponents from schools, tents, and hospitals controlled by Hamas members for interrogation,” claimed the official with the PA, a rival to Hamas.
“They have even recently summoned employees of international development and aid agencies to obtain information about the amounts and methods of distribution,” Awda said.
The PA politician goes on to claim that Hamas has also begun imposing taxes and fees on imports to fund its operations.
While Awda did not provide any evidence for his claims, Hamas had been known to hide out in dense civilian areas during the two years of war with Israel.
Israel alleged that Hamas used the tactic to create human shields for its forces, with the Israeli military repeatedly publishing images of terror bases and weapons caches hidden around and beneath schools, churches and hospitals in Gaza.
The terror group’s moves to re-establish its order across the strip after the cease-fire was announced — including with the release of harrowing videos of its public executions in the streets of Gaza City — have stunned the world.
Trump has warned Hamas that it must behave and be willing to relinquish its weapons and power as stated in his peace plan.
The president went further with his warnings Tuesday as he claimed that Middle Eastern countries were prepared to deploy troops to Gaza to keep the terror group in check if it does not do “what is right.
“Numerous of our NOW GREAT ALLIES in the Middle East, and areas surrounding the Middle East, have explicitly and strongly, with great enthusiasm, informed me that they would welcome the opportunity, at my request, to go into GAZA with a heavy force and ‘straighten [out] Hamas’ if Hamas continues to act badly, in violation of their agreement with us,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
So far, only Indonesia has publicly stated its willingness to deploy troops for a UN-mandated international force to help secure order in the Gaza Strip.
Despite the reported hesitancy from other Middle Eastern nations, Trump claimed countries in the region are eager and waiting on his command.
“I told these countries, and Israel, ‘NOT YET!’ There is still hope that Hamas will do what is right,” Trump wrote.
“If they do not, an end to Hamas will be FAST, FURIOUS, & BRUTAL! I would like to thank all of those countries that called to help,” he said.
