Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed on Sunday that Hamas will be disarmed no matter what following reports that the US would no longer be imposing the condition as part of President Trump’s 20-point peace deal.
Israeli media outlets claimed that the White House was thinking about dropping the calls for Hamas to disarm after allegedly finding it too difficult to get other nations to commit peacekeeping troops to oversee the demilitarization of Gaza, the Times of Israel reported.
“In the 20-point plan, and in any other case, this area will be demilitarized and Hamas will be disarmed — either the easy way or the hard way,” Netanyahu said in his weekly cabinet address.
“That is what I have said, and that is what President Trump has also said.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed that Hamas will be disarmed and that a Palestinian state will never exist west of the Jordan River. REUTERS
Hamas has refused any and all calls to disarm until a pathway is achieved for a Palestinian state. ZUMAPRESS.comThe White House did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.
Netanyahu’s warning comes as the uncertainty of the Gaza cease-fire looms with the bodies of just three hostages still under Hamas captivity.
Once all the hostages are freed, the deal is supposed to set the groundwork for permanent peace, but there is still no clear path forward over Israel and Hamas’ disagreements — which caused the previous cease-fires to collapse.
The terrorist group has long maintained that they will neither cede their weapons nor power in Gaza until a pathway is set for Palestinian statehood, a condition Netanyahu has said he will never agree to.
Hamas has been policing the Gaza Strip and holding public executions in a show of force. Storyful
Many of those executed by Hamas were accused of collaborating with Israel, which controls about 53% of the Gaza Strip. QudsN / TelegramTrump has repeatedly warned Hamas to disarm or face severe consequences, with the president insisting that an international coalition of troops would be deployed to demilitarize the Gaza Strip.
Allies, however, remain hesitant to commit their soldiers to fight in Gaza, with Indonesia being the only nation willing to send as many as 20,000 soldiers.
All eyes are now on Monday’s vote at the United Nations Security Council, where members are set to enshrine Trump’s peace deal, which states “the conditions may finally be in place for a credible pathway” to Palestinian statehood once an end to the war is established.
The certainty of the second phase of the cease-fire deal remains unclear as Hamas continues to look for the bodies of the remaining three hostages. APIsrael, however, is allegedly lobbying the US and other UNSC member states to change the wording and downplay the promise for a Palestinian State, according to Hebrew media outlets.
“Our opposition to a Palestinian state anywhere west of the Jordan River exists, is firm, and has not changed whatsoever,” Netanyahu said on Sunday.
“I have been pushing back against these attempts for decades, and I do so against external pressure and internal pressure as well,” he added.
