The President of the United States, Donald Trump, warned this Tuesday (14) that Hamas will be forced to hand over its weapons if it does not comply with the disarmament agreement provided for in the peace plan for Gaza.
“If they don’t give up their weapons, we will take them away. How do we do that? I don’t need to explain, but if they don’t accept disarmament, we will disarm them. They know I’m not kidding,” Trump said during a press conference at the White House alongside Argentine President Javier Milei.
The statement marks a hardening of the American stance after the start of the first phase of the ceasefire in Gaza, which provides for the release of Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners and the partial withdrawal of Israeli troops. The plan, drawn up by the White House, was discussed days earlier at a summit in Egypt with regional leaders, where Trump sought to ensure international support for the proposal.
According to the president, Hamas “at the highest level” guaranteed that it will fulfill its disarmament commitment. Trump, however, warned that any resistance to the agreement will be responded to quickly.
“If it is necessary to intervene so that Hamas lays down its arms, these actions will occur quickly and perhaps violently,” he said, without detailing deadlines or military operations.
Trump also highlighted that the release of the Israeli hostages was the first concrete step of the peace plan and that the United States acted directly to ensure their safe delivery.
“We did something monumental. We recovered the hostages. That was the first thing we had to do, above all, recover the hostages,” he said.
The first phase of the agreement, which began on Friday (10), includes the suspension of attacks and the exchange of 20 live hostages for Palestinian prisoners. If conditions are maintained, the second stage envisages the complete demilitarization of the Gaza Strip, the dispatch of an international stabilization force and the launch of a reconstruction program financed by Arab countries allied with Washington.
The plan is seen by Trump as the beginning of a new security policy in the Middle East, centered on the elimination of armed groups and the reconstruction of Gaza under international supervision. The White House has insisted that Hamas must fully comply with the terms of the agreement, otherwise it will face a direct response from the United States and its allies.
