OAN Staff Blake Wolf
10:58 AM – Thursday, January 1, 2025
President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have reportedly agreed to give Hamas a two-month deadline to disarm, according to an Israel Hayom report.
Alongside Netanyahu on Monday, President Trump warned the terror group that there would be “hell to pay” if it refused to disarm, while suggesting that he would give Israel America’s support to resume the mass bombing campaign in Gaza.
The two-month deadline comes as the ceasefire agreement brokered by President Trump moves into phase two, of which the disarmament of Hamas is a central component.
During the press conference at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, Trump claimed that Hamas has agreed to disarm. However, the terror group has consistently stated that it will not relinquish arms unless a Palestinian state is established or clear progress towards the establishment of an independent, sovereign Palestinian state is made.
“If they don’t disarm as they agreed to do — they agreed to it — then there will be hell to pay for them. And we don’t want that. We’re not looking for that,” Trump stated on Monday.
According to the Israel Hayom report, the Israeli outlet owned by Trump mega-donor Miriam Adelson, the Hamas disarmament agreement also included the destruction of its underground tunnel network.
In early December, senior Hamas official Bassem Naim told NPR that Hamas is “ready to lay down these weapons. I mean, not to use it for five, seven, 10 years, as long as we are not attacked, because the second question is always, OK, Palestinians have to be disarmed. What about the other side?”
Meanwhile, Netanyahu has remained committed to opposing the creation of an independent, sovereign Palestinian state.
In late November, Netanyahu proclaimed, “There will not be a Palestinian state. It’s very simple: it will not be established.”
Netanyahu’s positioning has the potential to dissuade Hamas from laying down arms, as the terror group’s stipulation for laying down its arms remains the creation of a Palestinian nation.
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