Trump: sets a disarming deadline for Hamas
Trump: At a joint news conference in Mar-a-Lago, Florida, US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Hamas had been given a “very short period of time” to disarm and warned that failure to do so would have dire repercussions.
“We discussed disarmament and Hamas, and they will be given a very short period of time to disarm,” Trump said. “And we’ll see how that turns out.”
Trump said that Hamas had already promised to disarm, and that his special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, and senior presidential adviser Jared Kushner would supervise the process from the US side.
“They’ll be held to pay for them if they don’t disarm as they agreed to do,” he said. “They have a very short window of time to disarm.”
When asked whether Israel will remove its troops before Hamas completely disarms, Trump refused to make the connection.
“Well, that’s an other topic. “We’ll discuss that,” he stated.
Trump denied claims that Israel was postponing the execution of further phases of the peace process, claiming that Israel has cooperated completely with the current framework.
He said, “I don’t care about anything that Israel is doing.” “They have completely fulfilled the plan.”
He issued a warning that if Hamas broke its promise, other signatory nations would also take action, in addition to Israel.
Trump said that the same nations would destroy Hamas if they declared they would not disarm. “Israel is not even necessary for them.”
Trump said that 59 nations supported the peace initiative.
“59 countries, including major nations, have signed on,” he said. “Hamas is only a small part of this peace in the Middle East, but it is still a part of it.”
Netanyahu supported Trump’s stance, calling him Israel’s most powerful friend on many occasions.
Netanyahu described their collaboration as “a partnership second to none” and said, “We’ve never had a friend even close a friend as President Trump in the White House.”
Trump said that US moves against Iran had made the larger peace endeavor feasible.
He said that any new Iranian activities would prompt immediate action, saying, “Remember, we made the plan possible by taking out Iran.”
“We’re going to have no choice but to eradicate that buildup very quickly if they are trying to build up again,” Trump said.
Trump emphasized his desire for Hamas to behave quietly in the last moments of the conversation.
Regarding potential repercussions, he said, “I don’t want that to happen.” “However, they reached a consensus.”
The United States has classified Hamas as a terrorist group and it has ruled the Gaza Strip since 2007. Conflicts over disarmament and security assurances have caused many ceasefire attempts to fail in the past.
The Trump administration has advocated for a more comprehensive regional peace framework that includes Israel and Arab nations, contending that the dismantling of terrorist organizations is necessary for long-term Middle East stability.