Hamas will disarm or we will disarm them – Trump
The United States President Donald Trump has said that Hamas terrorists would be disarmed forcefully if they refuse to disarm voluntarily.
This agreement is part of his 20-point peace plan which has recently resulted in a ceasefire in Gaza by the Israeli armed forces, gradually bringing the war between Israel and Hamas to a foreseeable end.
Trump said this while fielding questions from journalists in Washington DC. Asked when Hamas would disarm and the guarantee for such disarmament, Trump said: “They are going to disarm because they said they’re going to disarm, and if they don’t disarm, we will disarm them.”
The US President however declined to explain how he intended to make them disarm. “They know I’m not playing games. We did something monumental; we got the hostages back. That was the first thing we had to do. Above all else”, he added.
Trump accused Hamas of misrepresenting the number of dead hostages in their captivity, as they seemed to have “a much lesser number”.
President Trump said that Hamas had to first take out some of the bad eggs from among them, those he referred to as “very bad gang”.
“Initially speaking, they needed, you know, they did take out a couple of gangs that were very bad, very very bad gang. They did take them out. And that didn’t bother me much, to be honest with you. That’s ok, perhaps a couple of very bad gangs, very much different than in other countries,” Trump said.
As part of the peace deal, he said Hamas would disarm or will be disarmed, saying that “it would happen quickly and perhaps violently” if they refuse to disarm willingly.
“I spoke to Hamas and I said you’re going to disarm right?’ And they said we’re going to disarm. That’s what they tell me. They will disarm or we will disarm them,” the President assured.
Asked about the deadline for the disarmament, Trump said it would happen quickly within a reasonable period of time.
Hamas on Monday released the remaining living Israeli hostages as part of the ceasefire agreement, while Israel released hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and detainees from Gaza held by Israel since the October 7 2023 Hamas terrorist attack.
The 20 remaining living hostages in Gaza were returned to Israel after two years of Hamas’ captivity.
Of the 28 hostages who are presumed dead, about 9 bodies have been released to Israel. Israel during the week accused Hamas of sending them the corpse of a person who was not among the hostages.
While the other bodies are being awaited, Hamas has complained of difficulty finding the burial site of other dead Israeli hostages, which according to them, is as a result of Israel’s bombardment of Gaza, saying that most landmarks are gone or buried beneath rubble.
The Israeli Prime Minister and the US President have insisted on the return of the remaining dead hostages, as envoys from Egypt and the peace deal committee would arrive Gaza to help locate the remaining bodies.
