Trump says Hamas must disarm or be disarmed, perhaps violently
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U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he had communicated to Hamas that the militant group must disarm or it will be forced to.
On Monday, Hamas freed the last living Israeli hostages from Gaza, and Israel sent home busloads of Palestinian detainees under a ceasefire deal brokered by Trump, but Hamas has not publicly committed to downing its weapons.
“If they don’t disarm, we will disarm them. And it will happen quickly and perhaps violently,” Trump said during a meeting at the White House with Argentine President Javier Milei.
Trump said he communicated this to Hamas and they had agreed to disarm, as his 20-point peace proposal stated.
“I spoke to Hamas, and I said, you’re going to disarm, right? Yes, sir, we’re going to disarm. That’s what they told me,” Trump said, later clarifying that he passed the message through intermediaries.
The outlook for Trump’s peace plan has darkened since he returned from a visit to Israel and Egypt on Monday.
Israel restricted aid into Gaza and kept the enclave’s border shut on Tuesday, while re-emergent Hamas fighters demonstrated their grip by executing men in the street.
Trump endorsed Hamas killing members of other gangs as it reasserts its grip on security.
Hamas hands over hostage bodies after Israel threatens aid cut
Hamas handed over more bodies of deceased hostages to Israel on Tuesday, one sign of progress after a number of apparent setbacks in the day since U.S. President Donald Trump touted his plan to end the Gaza war.
The bodies were returned after Israel announced it would cut in half the number of humanitarian aid trucks allowed into Gaza in a move to punish Hamas for what Israel called the militant group’s violation of its agreement to transfer remains under the ceasefire deal reached last week.
Meanwhile, re-emergent Hamas fighters demonstrated they were reasserting control in Gaza by deploying hundreds of security forces in the streets and executing several people they accused of collaborating with Israel.
