Washington: US President Donald Trump said Hamas had been given a “very short period of time” to disarm, warning that failure to do so would bring severe consequences, as he appeared alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at a joint press conference in Mar-a-Lago, Florida.
“Well, we talked about Hamas and we talked about disarmament and they’re going to be given a very short period of time to disarm,” Trump said. “And we’ll see how that works out.”
Trump said his special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, and special presidential advisor Jared Kushner would oversee the process from the US side, adding that Hamas had already committed to disarming.
“If they don’t disarm, as they agreed to do, they agreed to it, then they’ll be held to pay for them,” he said. “They have to disarm within a fairly short period of time.”
Asked whether Israel would withdraw its forces before Hamas fully disarms, Trump declined to link the two issues.
“Well, that’s a separate subject. We’ll talk about that,” he said.
Trump said Israel had complied fully with the existing peace framework and rejected suggestions that it was delaying implementation of later stages.
“I’m not concerned about anything that Israel is doing,” he said. “They’ve lived up to the plan 100 percent.”
He warned that Hamas’ failure to honor its pledge would trigger action not just from Israel but from other countries involved in the agreement.
“If they say they’re not going to disarm, those same countries will wipe out Hamas,” Trump said. “They don’t even need Israel.”
Trump said 59 countries were aligned behind the peace effort.
“We have 59 countries that signed on, big countries,” he said. “This is a real peace in the Middle East and Hamas is a small part of it, but it’s still a part of it.”
Netanyahu backed Trump’s position, repeatedly describing him as Israel’s strongest ally.
“We’ve never had a friend even close a friend as President Trump in the White House,” Netanyahu said, calling their cooperation “a partnership second to none.”
Trump said the broader peace effort had been made possible by US actions against Iran.
“Don’t forget, we made the plan possible by taking out Iran,” he said, adding that renewed Iranian activity would draw swift action.
“If they are trying to build up again… we’re going to have no choice but very quickly to eradicate that buildup,” Trump said.
In the final moments of the exchange, Trump stressed that he wanted Hamas to comply peacefully.
“I don’t want that to happen,” he said of possible consequences. “But they made an agreement.”
Hamas has controlled the Gaza Strip since 2007 and is designated a terrorist organization by the United States. Multiple ceasefire efforts in the past have collapsed amid disputes over disarmament and security guarantees.
The Trump administration has promoted a broader regional peace framework involving Arab states and Israel, arguing that militant groups must be dismantled for lasting stability in the Middle East.
(IANS)
