Meeting PM, Trump warns of ‘hell to pay’ if Hamas doesn’t disarm in ‘very short’ time |
US President Donald Trump on Monday threatened Hamas with “hell to pay” if it does not disarm within a “very short period,” in remarks delivered alongside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after their meeting at the Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.
Hamas “will be given a very short period of time to disarm,” the US president said during a press conference. “If they don’t disarm, as they agreed to do… then there will be hell to pay for them.”
The warning was part of a series of remarks on key regional issues that Trump made to the press before and after a lunchtime meeting with Netanyahu and his team, including an assertion that the US would back an Israeli attack on Iran if Tehran continued to advance its nuclear and ballistic missile programs. He also made comments praising the leaders of Turkey and Syria, both of which Israel has sparred with in recent months.
Trump said he intends to move to the second phase of his 20-point plan for Gaza “as quickly as we can” but stopped short of offering a firm timeline for the process. The first stage of the ceasefire began in October, but the next phase, which would establish longer-term governing and security frameworks for Gaza, has stalled as both Israel and Hamas have chafed at implementing various portions of the proposal.
Trump’s 20-point plan was presented in September, the last time Netanyahu was in the US. During that visit, Netanyahu embraced the plan, which included the potential for a pathway to a future Palestinian state — something he and his coalition partners have long rejected.
Ultimately, though, Israel and Hamas signed on to a separate document that only pertained to the first phase of the ceasefire: Israel’s initial pullback inside the Gaza Strip to a newly established Yellow Line, a swap of hostages and Palestinian security prisoners, and a surge in humanitarian aid. One slain hostage is still held in Gaza.
While US officials have claimed that Hamas also agreed to disarm during an 11th-hour meeting before the phase-one deal was signed on October 9, Hamas has repeatedly denied this and insists it will only give up its weapons through talks resulting in the establishment of a Palestinian state.
The US has reportedly held discussions with the Gaza ceasefire’s Mideast mediators — Egypt, Qatar and Turkey — about coaxing Hamas to agree to a gradual decommissioning of weapons in a process that would first see the terror group give up its heavy arms, but Israel has chafed at the idea.
Lack of progress on this issue has marred efforts to transition to phase two of the ceasefire, which is supposed to include the creation of a transitional government of Palestinian technocrats who will manage day-to-day affairs in the Strip until the Palestinian Authority has implemented internal reforms necessary to take over. The government would be assisted by an International Stabilization Force that would help patrol Gaza and advance the demilitarization of the Strip. Each of these bodies would be overseen by a Board of Peace made up of various world leaders and headed by Trump.
The US was hoping to announce a transition to phase two last month, but it is now unclear whether enough consensus has been reached to do so even in January.
The lack of Israeli buy-in to Trump’s Gaza plan is said to have angered his aides, who have been working to convince Netanyahu to show more restraint in Gaza, where over 400 people have been reported killed in Israeli military operations since the ceasefire commenced. Jerusalem says the vast majority of those strikes were in response to Hamas violations of the ceasefire.
There was no indication on Monday, however, that those frustrations had extended to Trump himself, as he repeatedly praised Netanyahu and insisted that they are aligned on almost all issues.
In a press conference after their meeting, Trump said that the two sides “came to a lot of conclusions” and that there was “very little difference” regarding “where we want to go.”
Trump said his relationship with the premier “has........