An attack would mean a breach of Hamas' agreement with Israel regarding the Gaza war, according to a statement from the department in Washington DC:
”This planned attack on Palestinian civilians would mean a direct and serious breach of the peace agreement and undermine the significant progress made through mediation efforts”, it says.
Combating gangs
The department has notified the peace agreement's mediator countries Egypt, Turkey, and Qatar about the extremist organization's plans. If Hamas continues, ”measures will be taken to protect the population of Gaza and the ceasefire", according to the statement.
But Hamas denies that they would be about to attack civilians. Facts on the ground show something else, it says in a statement:
”It is the occupation forces (Israeli forces) that have formed, armed and financed criminal gangs that have committed murder, kidnappings, plundered aid transports and stolen from Palestinian civilians”, Hamas claims according to Haaretz.
The police in Gaza are now working to combat these gangs with broad popular support, it says further.
Go in?
Over the weekend, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that the war in Gaza will not be over until Hamas is disarmed and the Palestinian areas are demilitarized.
US President Donald Trump has previously threatened that if Hamas continues to kill people in Gaza. . . "we will not have any other choice but to go in and kill them". Later, he specified that it is not about sending in American forces.
