US President Donald Trump said on Monday that Hamas will have "very short period" of time to fully disarm, warning that if they didn't "there'll be hell to pay." Trump was speaking at a press conference in Florida after talks with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. "If they don't disarm – as they agreed to do, they agreed to it – then there'll be hell to pay for them," Trump said. "And we don't want that. But they have to disarm within a fairly short period of time." Ahead of the talks with Netanyahu, the sixth time this year the two leaders have met, Trump said they planned to discuss "five major subjects," including the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire which is widely expected to start in January.
The first phase of the agreement, which came into force on October 10 ending fighting that started in 2023, included a suspension of hostilities, a partial Israeli military withdrawal and the exchange of all Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners. The second phase, outlined in Trump's 20-point peace plan, includes a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, the disarmament of Hamas and the establishment of a Palestinian committee to temporarily govern Gaza. Trump said he expected the reconstruction of Gaza to begin "pretty soon" but gave no further details about a timeline or who would be responsible for the construction.
The Palestinian enclave has been widely destroyed in more than two years of fighting between Israel and Hamas with the UN estimating more than 80% of the Strip's buildings have been destroyed. When asked by reporters about Israel's actions in the occupied West Bank and whether settler violence was undermining peace, Trump said that he and Netanyahu "don't agree on the West Bank 100% but we’ll come to a conclusion on the West Bank." Trump didn't give any details about the nature of those disagreements but said Netanyahu "will do the right thing." (Read More)
